Division  T5S  15S6 
Section     ,A8  lO 


THE  ONLY  KEY 


TO 


Daniel's  Prophecies 


BY 

W.    S.    AUCHINCLOSS 


INTRODUCTION 

BY 

A.    H.    SAYCE,    LL.  D., 

QUEEN'S  COLLEGE,   OXFORD,   ENGLAND 


SECOND  EDITION. 


NEW  YORK 

FOR  SALE   BY 

D.  VAN  NOSTRAND  COMPANY 

SCIENTIFIC  BOOK  PUBLISHERS 
23  MURRAY  STREET 

1004 


Copyright,  1904 
W.  S.  AUCHINCLOSS. 


WM.   J.   DORNAN,  PRINTER,   PHILADELPHIA. 


A  LOVING  TRIBUTE 

TO   MY  WIFE 

WHO    SHARED  THE  WORK  OF 

PUTTING    DIFFICULT    PORTIONS    INTO 

PLAIN   ENGLISH. 


QuEEN^s  College,  Oxford, 

September  4,  1902. 

Mr.  Auchincloss  has  asked  me  to  prefix  a 
few  words  of  introduction  to  his  book  : 

There  is  little  to  say,  as  the  book  tells  its 
own  tale — clear  and  to  the  point. 

He  has  very  rightly  taken  the  sidereal  year 
as  the  basis  of  his  calculations ;  any  other 
system  of  computation  ends  only  in  difficulties. 

But  the  reader  will  find  other  novelties,  not 
the  least  among  them  being  the  fact  that  the 
prophecies  of  Daniel  are  made  to  end  with  the 
beginning  of  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church,  instead  of  lengthening  out  into  a  still 
unknown  future ;  this  is  a  great  advance  on 
5 


INTRODUCTION. 


previous  interpreters.  And  he  will  doubtless 
be  struck  by  calculations  according  to  which 
the  1290  Days  of  the  Hebrew  Prophet  termi- 
nated in  A.  D.  33. 


(Ul 


Ci .   // •    vy  ^^ 


PREFACE 


Almost  unnumbered  theories  have  been 
advanced  regarding  the  meaning  of  the  words 
— DAY,  WEEK,  TIME — as  found  in  the  Book 
of  Daniel,  but  none  of  these  have  proved 
satisfactory.  Had  they  been  so,  we  would 
not  now  hear  such  notes  of  "  embarrass- 
ment and  helpless  discouragement'^  as  those 
given  by  diifferent  authors,  in  the  following 
lines  : 
Prof.  James  Drummond  : — 

^^  Our  general  conclusion  is,  that  the  Book 
of  Daniel,  though  it  portrays  an  ideal  kingdom, 
fails  to  place  its  sovereignty  in  the  hands  of  the 
Messiah." 
Dr.  A.  Kuenen  : — 

"  We  ought  not  to  assume  that  Daniel  was 
7 


PKEFACE. 

a  perfect  master  of  chronology.      We  need  not 
however  dwell  farther  on  this  perplexed  sub- 
ject,  as    it    is    more    than   probable    that   the 
Hebrew  text  is  unsound/' 
Prof.  J.  D.  Prince  :— 

"  Viewed  in  a  proper  light,  the  book  cannot 
be  called  a  forgery,  but  merely  a  consolatory 
political  pamphlet ;  it  however  owes  its  sup- 
posed accuracy  to  an  ancient  mistaken  tradition. 
This  whole  prophecy  unquestionably  presents 
problems  which  can  never  be  thoroughly  un- 
derstood ;  first  because  the  author  must  have 
been  ignorant  both  of  history  and  chronology, 
and  secondly,  because  in  his  efforts  to  be  as 
mystical  as  possible,  he  purposely  made  use  of 
indefinite  and  vague  expressions,  which  render 
the  criticism  of  the  passage  a  thankless  and 
unsatisfactory  task.'' 
Prof.  Lagarde  : — 

^^The  book  of  Daniel  is  a  bundle  of  loose 
leaves." 

8 


PREFACE. 

Dr.  Z5ckler  : — 

"  Daniel  is  the  most  mysterious  and  difficult 
of  all  the  prophets." 
Dr.  Lange  : — 

"  The  1290  days  have  merely  a  mystical  and 
symbolical  significance." 
Prof.  C.  A.  Briggs  : — 

"  The  book  of  Daniel  was  written  as  historic 
fiction,  in  168-165  b.  c." 
Prof.  Driver : — 

"  What  the  writer  can  have  meant  by  2300 
evening-mornings  is  confessedly  most  obscure. 
No  entirely  satisfactory  interpretation  appears 
yet  to  have  been  found." 
Dr.  W.  M.  Taylor  :— 

^^I  do  not  know  what  to  make  of  all  this. 
There  must  be  some  hidden  harmony  which 
has  not  yet  been  discovered." 

Very  fortunately,   we   did  not    read    these 
remarks,  before  undertaking  the  work  of  sup- 
plying a  Key,  or  we  might  have  despaired  of 
9 


PKEFACE. 

ever  finding  one.  We  simply  followed  the  old- 
fashioned  way  of  "  Searching  the  Scriptures/' 
and  brought  to  bear  on  them  whatever  light 
could  be  obtained  from  ancient  inscriptions  and 
from  writings  composed  prior  to  the  2d  century. 

The  Book  of  Daniel  stands  out  .in  bold 
relief  upon  the  pages  of  history.  It  has  a  dual 
aspect.  From  one  standpoint  it  resembles 
the  sphinx  of  El-Gizeh,  and  from  the  other 
it  appears  like  a  message  in  cipher,  sent  by 
some  government  to  its  distant  commander. 
The  great  sphinx  looks  down  in  calm  silence, 
conscious  of  assured  antiquity,  while  the 
message  is  meaningless  to  those  who  have 
no  key  to  its  strange  words 

Without  a  perfectly  fitting  key,  the  tendency 
of  its  readers  is  to  treat  the  Book  lightly,  call  in 
question  its  statements  and  smile  at  its  proph- 
ecies. Time,  however,  vindicates  the  state- 
ments of  Daniel  and  fixes  on  them  the  seal 
of  truth.  Also,  newly-found  inscriptions  both 
10 


PREFACE. 

on  rocks  and  tablets,  together  with  ancient 
writings  composed  in  those  times,  bring  to 
confusion  adverse  criticism. 

The  Book  of  Daniel  is  a  most  important  part 
of  the  AYord  of  God,  and  is  set  like  a  gem 
among  jewels.  Its  words  of  warning  were 
sounded  600  years  before  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  by  Titus.  Its  prophecies  are  like 
mile-stones  along  the  highway  of  Jewish 
history,  each  one  bringing  the  observer  nearer 
to  Messiah's  kingdom,  to  that  "  Great  and 
Notable  day  of  the  Lord '' — Pentecost  of  A.  d. 
33 — when  the  Holy  Spirit  was  manifested  to 
the  Jews,  also  nearer  to  a.  d.  39,  the  year  of 
the  manifestation  to  the  Gentiles,  and  finally  to 
A.  D.  70  when  the  Jews  were  scattered  among 
the  nations.  Daniel  alone  of  all  the  prophets 
received  Divine  illumination  regarding  this  all- 
important  group  of  dates.  They  mark  the  re- 
motest boundary  of  his  book,  and  therefore  bar 
the  way  to  fanciful  conclusions  in  regard  to 
11 


PREFACE. 

later  times.  Head  aright,  Daniel's  words  have 
no  uncertain  sound,  they  are  definite  and  exact 
like  the  forecast  of  an  astronomer. 

Viewed  from  every  standpoint  the  (xrand 
old  President  of  the  Chaldean  Court  had  a 
character  of  rare  beauty  and  symmetry,  that 
will  continue  to  shine  throughout  the  ages. 
He  will  stand  in  his  lot  to  the  end  of  the 
days ;  the  noblest  example  of  human  courage 
coupled  with  imquestioning  faith,  the  typical 
companion,  the  nobleman,  courtier,  seer  and 
Prophet ; — A  man  greatly  beloved  I 

It  is  our  purpose  first  to  determine  in  what 
season  and  in  what  year,  Christ  was  born. 
After  which  we  shall  devote  a  few  pages  to 
Daniel,  and  to  the  Kings  mentioned  in  the 
Book  of  Daniel.  \A^e  shall  then  develop  the 
code  for  translating  his  messages,  and  as  this 
code  will  apply  equally  to  all  his  prophecies,  it 
is  entitled  to  be  called  the  only  Key  to  Daniel's 
Prophecies. 

12 


CONTENTS 


13 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Introduction  by  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce 

5 

Preface 



7 

Contents 

. 

15 

I. 

Anno  Domini — A.  d.  1     . 

19 

II. 

Daniel  the  Prophet 

31 

]II. 

Nebuchadnezzar  the  King 

41 

IV. 

Belshazzar  the  King 

47 

V. 

King  Cyrus 

55 

VI. 

Darius  the  Mede      .... 

61 

VII. 

Xerxes  and  Artaxerxes   . 

69 

VIII. 

Locking  Dates          .... 

75 

IX. 

Starting-points  of  Prophecy     . 

81 

X. 

The  Time  of  the  End       . 

89 

XI. 

The  National  Day  .... 

97 

XII. 

Prophetic  Days        .... 

107 

xm. 

Prophetic  Weeks  and  Times    . 

117 

XIV. 

Daniel's  Inspiration 

123 

Daniel's 

Prophecies— With  Interpretation 

131 

Keferences 

195 

Index 

15 

203 

ANNO  DOMINI, 


ANNO   DOMINI. 

It  is  very  evident  that  Daniel's  proph- 
ecies span  two  Eras — one  before  the  birth  of 
Christ  and  one  after — our  first  duty  therefore 
will  be  to  locate  with  precision,  the  point  where 
one  era  ends  and  the  other  begins,  for  that  spot 
is  the  pivotal  point  of  all  history.  AYe  know 
full  w^ell,  that  if  the  pivot  or  axis  is  out  of 
truth,  then  all  events  revolving  about  the  same 
must  share  its  want  of  accuracy. 

Popular  sentiment  accepts,  December  25th 
B.  c.  5 — as  being  the  day  on  which  Christ  was 
born,  and  computes  the  events  which  took 
place  in  his  life  and  ministry,  with  that  date  as 
the  starting-point.  The  real  question  however 
is  one  of  fact,  not  of  theory  or  sentiment. 
19 


DANIEL'S  PKOPHECIES. 

We  are  now  in  the  20th  century  and  it  is 
high  time  that  the  year  of  Christ's  birth  was 
settled  once  for  all,  on  a  good  and  sure  foun- 
dation. It  cannot  be  found  in  the  works  of 
Basilides,  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Origen,  Lac- 
tantius,  Eusebius  or  Augustine,  writers  of  the 
2d,  3d,  4th  and  5th  centuries,  but  must  be 
sought  from  those  who  lived  nearer  the  time 
of  that  great  event. 

Turning  to  the  New  Testament,  we  notice 
that  it  was  characteristic  of  Luke  as  a  writer 
not  to  indulge  in  random  statements  regard- 
ing dates  or  ages.  When  an  individual  was 
near  to  a  certain  age,  he  qualified  his  words ; 
as,  for  instance,  '^  One  only  daughter  about 
12  years  of  age.''  If,  however,  an  anniversary 
date  aided  his  memory,  he  stated  the  age  with 
precision  ;  for  example,  "  When  he  was  12 
YEARS  OLD."  But  at  what  time  was  the 
Saviour  12  years  old?  The  text  says  at  the 
time  of  the  Passover.  It  is  evident,  there- 
20 


ANNO  DOMINI. 

fore^  that  the  anniversary  occurs  in  the  Spring 
of  the  year.  Besides  this,  every  circumstance 
surrounding  his  birth  point  to  the  Spring. 
The  winters  then  were  far  more  severe  than 
they  are  at  the  present  day,  because  Syria  was 
well- wooded.  Now  it  has  been  stripped  of 
its  forests  and  the  winters  are  correspondingly 
milder.  We  read  in  different  parts  of  Josephus 
expressions  like  these  :  "  the  depth  of  winter/^ 
"of  a  very  great  snow  in  Galilee,"  "of  the 
rigor  of  winter,"  also  of  "  the  impediment " 
offered  by  winter,  which  drove  armies  into 
winter  quarters.^  Surely,  exposure  to  the  cold 
of  a  stable,  or  a  manger,  during  such  weather 
would  have  been  almost  certain  death  !  In 
like  manner,  shepherds  and  their  flocks  would 
have  shared  the  common  danger  had  they  ven- 
tured out  at  night,  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of 
December. 

We   claim,    therefore,    on   the   authority   of 
Scripture,  that  the  Saviour  was  born  in  the 
21 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

Spring,  about  the  time  of  the  Jewish  Pass- 
over. Having  determined  the  Season,  let  us 
now  find  the  year  in  which  Christ  was  born. 
The  New  Testament  plainly  states  that  our 
Saviour  was  born  before  the  death  of  Herod. 
During  his  last  illness  Herod  held  his  Jeru- 
salem Court  near  the  hot  baths  of  Callirrhoe, 
located  several  hours'  journey  due  east  of 
Bethlehem.  Thence  the  Star  in  its  westward 
course  could  go  before  and  guide  the  Wise  Men 
^'  till  it  came  and  stood  over  where  the  young 
child  was.''  The  location  harmonizes  with  the 
narrative,  and  its  great  distance  favored  the 
escape  both  of  the  Wise  Men  and  of  the 
child's  parents.  We  can  determine  the  year  of 
Herod's  death  precisely  by  starting  either  with 
the  year  of  his  birth,  the  year  in  which  he 
was  made  king,  or  the  year  he  captured  Jeru- 
salem. Now  as  Herod  was  born  in  b.  c.  69 
and  died  at  70  years  of  age,  he  must  have  died 
in  A.  D.  1.  He  was  born  in  b.  c.  69  because 
22 


ANNO  DOMINI. 

Josephus  says  that  Herod  was  15  years  old 
^^in  the  9th  year  of  Hyrcanus/'^  who  was 
made  Ethnarch  by  Ponipey  after  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  in  b.  c.  63.  The  9th  year  there- 
fore was  B.  c.  54  and  15  added  to  54  makes 
B.  c.  69  the  year  of  Herod's  birth.  We  can 
prove  that  Herod  was  made  king  of  the  Jews 
by  the  Romans  in  b.  c.  37,  by  four  different 
lines  of  evidence,  viz. : — 

First.  When  Queen  Alexandra  came  to  the 
throne  in  B.  c.  77  she  made  her  son  Hyrcanus 
high  priest,  who  ^'  received  all  sorts  of  honors 
and  enjoyed  them  40  years. "^  His  high 
priesthood  therefore  ended  in  b.  c.  37  when 
Antigonus  came  to  the  throne  and  the  Komans 
made  Herod  king  of  the  Jews.  We  know 
that  Alexandra's  reign  began  in  b.  c.  77  be- 
cause Simon  was  made  high  priest  in  b.  c.  143, 
the  170th  year  of  the  Seleucidae,  and  the 
intermediate  reigns'*  of  Alexander,  Judas,  Hyr- 
canus and  Simon  were  27  plus  1,  plus  30, 
23 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

plus  8  making  a  total  of  66  years.  Then  143 
less  GQ  gives  us  b.  c.  77,  and  "  40  years  '^  taken 
from  this  number  leaves  b.  c.  37  the  year  in 
which  Herod  was  made  king. 

Second.  After  the  battle  of  Philippi,  Oct. 
B.  c.  42,  Antony  Avith  a  large  force  entered 
Greece  and  the  following  year  laid  Asia  under 
tribute.  Then  before  its  inhabitants  were  able 
to  raise  their  second  crop  Antony  levied  an- 
other "  whole  tribute."^  In  b.  c.  39  Antony 
made  Herod  and  Phasaelus  tetrarchs  of  Judea.^ 
But  in  2  years  the  Parthians  overthrew  the 
tetrarchy  and  Herod  fled  to  Rome  where  he 
was  made  king^  of  the  Jews  in  b.  c.  37. 

Third.  The  battle  of  Actium  was  fought 
Sept.  B.  c.  31  ''  in  the  7th  year  of  Herod's 
reign  ''^  that  is,  after  6  Avhole  years  had 
gone  by  and  as  31  plus  6  equals  37,  we  have 
another  clear  indication  that  b.  c.  37  was  the 
first  year  of  Herod's  reign. 

Fourth.  According  to  Josephus  the  interval, 
24 


ANNO  DOMINI. 

beginning  with  Herod^s  reign  and  ending  with 
Titus'  capture  of  Jerusalem,  covered  in  round 
numbers  107  years.  ^  Subtracting  the  70 
years  of  A.  d.  from  this  amount  leaves  37 
for  a  remainder,  which  also  shows  that  Herod 
began  to  reign  in  b.  c.  37. 

Since  Herod  captured  Jerusalem  at  the  time 
of  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  three  years  after  he 
was  made  king  of  the  Romans,  the  capture 
took  place  June  1st  b.  c.  34. 

Now  Josephus  in  his  "  History  of  the 
Jewish  War  "  and  again  in  his  '^  Antiquities  '^ 
asserts  that  Herod  "  reigned  37  years  after 
he  was  made  king  by  the  Romans  and  34 
years  after  he  captured  Jerusalem.'"^ 

As  both  of  these  periods  land  us  in  the  last 
half  of  the  year  a.  D.  1  we  learn  that  Herod 
died  in  the  first  year  of  the  Christian  Era. 

Regarding  the  month  in  which  Herod  died, 
many  indications  point  to  the  late  summer  or 
early  autumn.  One  of  these  is  the  historic  in- 
25 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

cident  that  5  days  before  his  death  "  he  took  an 
apple  and  asked  for  a  knife  ;  for  he  used  to  pare 
apples  and  eat  them."'^  Thus  showing  that  it 
was  the  season  of  ripe  fruit.  Having  deter- 
mined the  year  and  the  season  of  Herod's  death 
we  arrive  at  the  year  of  Christ's  birth,  which 
was  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  the  year 
A.  D.  1;  and  the  season  was  the  time  of  the 
Jewish  Passover  which  that  year  was  celebrated 
on  the  29th  day  of  March. 

We  come  now  to  the  question,  as  to  how 
many  years  our  Lord  spent  on  earth  ? 

The  New  Testament  shows  that  John  the 
Baptist  was  born  a  few  months  before  the  time 
of  our  Lordj  and  about  the  time  of  John's  birth 
[Fall  of  B.  c.  1]  Augustus  Cesar  ordered  a 
general  enrollment  of  the  people,  preparatory 
to  taxation.  The  decree  was  very  unpopular 
and  excited  strong  opposition.  This,  however, 
was  allayed  by  the  High  Priest  Joazar,  who 
"  overpersuaded  the  Jews,"  so  that  they  ^'  gave 
26 


ANNO  DOMINI. 

an  account  of  their  Estates  without  any  dispute 
about  it/'^^  Since  Joazar  was  appointed  High 
Priest  by  Herod  in  the  Fall  of  b.  c.  1,  and 
Archelaus  made  a  promise  in  the  Fall  of  a.d.  1 
that  he  would  remove  Joazar,  it  is  clear  that 
the  decree  of  Augustus  Cesar  was  issued  at  the 
time  shown  by  Scripture,  viz.: — in  the  Fall  of 
B.  c.  1.  The  work  of  collecting  the  Taxes, 
however,  did  not  begin  until  a.d.  7,  when 
Cyrenius  was  made  President  of  Syria. 
Whereupon  the  Jews  rebelled  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Judas  of  Galilee,  who  contended  : 
^^That  this  taxation  was  no  better  than  an  in- 
troduction to  slavery.  "^^  Our  Saviour's  parents 
were  afraid  of  Archelaus  in  the  beginning. 
But  after  he  was  banished  by  the  Romans  in 
A.  D.  11,^*  they  felt  there  could  be  no  risk  in 
taking  the  lad  with  them  to  the  Passover  of 
A.  D.  13.  The  narrative  nov/  takes  us  to  the 
Fall  of  A.  D.  29— ''the  15th  year  of  Tiberius 
Cesar  "^^ — when    John    the   Baptist,    just    en- 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

tering  on  his  thirtieth  year,  began  his  public 
ministry.  Six  months  later,  or  in  the  spring  of 
A.  D.  30,  the  Saviour  'Miimself^^  attained  his 
thirtieth  year  and  likewise  began  to  preach. 
Chronologically  speaking,  this  date  was  hedged 
in  by  ^^ forty  and  six  years''  of  Temple  build- 
ing. The  Sanctuary  of  the  Temple  was  dedi- 
cated in  the  Fall  of  b.  c.  18,  seventeen  years 
prior  to  A.  D.  1.  If  now  we  add  the  29  years 
after,  to  the  17  years  before,  we  obtain  exactly 
the  46  years  spoken  of  by  the  Apostle  John. 
Since  the  Passover  of  A.  d.  30  is  the  first  of 
four  celebrations  mentioned  in  the  Gospel,  the 
Passover  of  A.  D.  33  marks  the  time  of  our 
Lord's  crucifixion  and  His  resurrection. 

Our  Lord's  life  on  earth,  therefore,  began 
in  A.  D.  1,  and  ended  in  A.  d.  33. 


28 


AUGUSTAN  AGE. 


Graphic  Exhibit. 
Augustus  Cesar  began  to  reign  Spring  b.  c.  44 


A                                         i! 

! 

i 

133^ 

yrs 

Summer  B.C.  37 

s 

A 

6^   yrs 

Battle  Actium 

V 

V 

.poll  Tj    r^    91 

i 

L 

37 

yrs 

44 

57% 
yrs 

yrs. 

Birth  of  Christ— 

finrino'    1 

7 

i? 

Fall 

A.D.I. 

A 

1 

13 

yrs 

13>^ 

yrs 

1 

7 

■V 

1 

i^ 

V 

End  of  Augustus'  reign 


Fall  A.  D.  14 


29 


DANIEL  THE   PROPHET. 


II. 

DANIEL. 

It  requires  no  extended  research  to  find  the 
Hebrew  estimate  of  the  Prophet  Daniel.  The 
Talmud  says  : 

"  If  all  the  wise  men  of  the  nations  were 
in  one  scale  of  the  balance,  and  Daniel  in 
the  other,  he  would  outweigh  them  all.^^^^ 

The  Jewish  historian,  Josephus,  writing  at 
an  earlier  date  says  : 

"The  several  books,  that  Daniel  wrote 
and  left  behind  him,  are  still  read  by  us, 
till  this  time.  —  A  remembrance,  that  will 
never  fail  I''^'^ 

He  also  states,  that  "  from  the  death  of  Moses 
to  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes,  every  one  of  our 
prophets  wrote   the   history  of    the    times    in 
31 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

which  he  lived/'  The  same  author  says,  that 
the  Scriptures  consisted  of  22  Books  —  5  of 
Moses,  13  of  the  Prophets  and  4  of  Hymns 
and  Precepts.  In  other  words,  '^  Moses  and 
the  Prophets  and  the  Psalms. "^^ 

Nothing  can  be  stronger  than  the  testimony 
of  Joseph  us  regarding  the  integrity  and  inspira- 
tion of  the  22  Books.  When  speaking  of  the 
Apocrypha  he  says : 

"  It  is  true  our  history  has  been  written 
since  Artaxerxes  very  particularly,  but  hath 
not  been  esteemed  of  the  like  authority  with 
the  former,  by  our  forefathers,  because  there 
hath  not  been  an  exact  succession  of  Prophets 
since  that  time  ;  and  how  firmly  we  have  given 
credit  to  these  [Holy  Scriptures]  of  our  own 
nation,  it  is  evident  by  what  we  do  ;  for  during 
so  many  ages  as  have  already  passed,  no  one 
hath  been  so  bold  as  either  to  add  anvthine:  to 
them,  or  to  take  anything  from  them,  or  to 
make  any  change  in  them  ;  but  it  is  become 
32 


DANIEL. 

natural  to  all  Jews  immediately  and  from  their 
very  birth  to  esteem  these  books  to  contain 
Divine  doctrines,  and  to  persist  in  them ;  and 
if  occasion  be,  willingly  to  die  for  them,"^^ 

In  view  of  this  clear  and  distinct  statement, 
coming  to  us  from  the  1st  century  and  endorsed 
by  the  Hebrews  of  the  present  day,  we  shall 
waste  no  time  in  discussing  the  objections  of 
Porphery,  the  classification  of  the  Hagiographa 
and  other  writings  that  were  composed  in  later 
centuries.  The  testimony  of  a  single  author, 
who  lived  in  those  times  and  wrote  with  all 
the  care  and  accuracy  displayed  by  Flavins 
Josephus,  is  more  valuable  than  the  testimony 
of  1000  authors  of  later  date. 

Enough  for  us,  that  the  sky  was  clear,  and 
that  no  clouds  of  doubt  had  arisen  in  the  1st 
century,  either  as  regards  the  authorship  or  the 
inspiration  of  the  Book  of  Daniel. 

The  work  has  the  appearance  of  having  been 
commenced  in  the  reign  of  Cyrus  and  suffered 
33 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

interruptions.  The  first  24  verses  were  written 
in  the  Hebrew  tongue  and  then  for  some  reason 
the  work  was  set  aside.  When  the  aged  linguist 
returned  to  his  labor  of  love,  the  first  sentence 
he  wrote  was  made  up  of  Aramaic  words, 
spoken  by  Chaldeans  to  Nebuchadnezzar.  So 
absorbed  was  Daniel  in  his  subject,  that  when 
he  had  written  them  down,  he  seems  to  have 
glided  on,  quite  unconscious  of  a  change,  from 
Hebrew  to  Aramaic. 

Once  more,  the  work  reached  a  standstill,  at 
the  end  of  the  7th  chapter.  When  he  renewed 
it,  doubtless  the  duties  of  the  realm  prevented^ 
a  rewriting  of  the  second  portion.  He  finished 
it  in  his  mother  tongue,  the  Hebrew.  We 
might  of  course  expect  such  versatility  in  a 
diplomat  of  Daniel's  experience.  There  is  a 
similar  transition  in  Ezra.^*^ 

As  to  the  subject  matter,  one-half  the  Book 
is  narrative  and  the  other  half  prophecy.     In 
the  narrative  he  uses  the  third,  but  in  prophecy 
34 


DANIEL. 

the  first  person  singular.  His  experiences 
are  full  of  thrilling  interest,  and  the  natural 
sequence  of  events  can  best  be  secured  by 
reading  the  chapters  in  the  following  order : 

I.  II.  III.  IV.  VII.  VIII.  V.    X.  XII.  IX.  XI.  VI. 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  Josephus  uses  the 
plural  when  speaking  of  the  book  of  Daniel. 
He  devotes  many  pages  to  a  sketch  of  his  life, 
and  says  that  he  prophesied  in  the  time  of 
"  Darius  the  son  of  Hystaspes."^^  Some  writers 
claim  there  was  a  person  called  "  Darius  the 
Mede,''  who  reigned  after  Belshazzar  and  before 
Cyrus.  It  is  only  fair  to  let  Daniel  make  his 
own  statement  on  this  subject. 

Having  spoken  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  in  the 
1st  chapter,  he  closes  by  saying  ;  "  Daniel  con- 
tinued even  unto  the  1st  year  of  King  Cyrus."^^ 
This  brings  the  narrative  up  to  the  commence- 
ment of  Cyrus'  reign,  but  says  nothing  about 
whether  Daniel  prospered  or  suffered  under 
that  monarch.  The  omission  however  was 
35 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

supplied  at  a  later  day.  When  speaking  of 
his  prosperity  under  Darius,  he  was  reminded 
of  kindnesses  shown  him  by  Cyrus,  and  added 
a  tribute  to  him,  also  : 

"  So  this  Daniel  prospered  in  the  reign  of 
Darius  and  in  the  reign  of  Cyrus  the  Per- 
sian.'^^^  N.  B.— Always  Medes  first,  Persians  last  I 

There  is  here  nothing  that  conflicts  with  the 
known  succession  of  Babylonian  monarchs. 
With  far  greater  propriety  might  the  silence 
of  Daniel  respecting  Cambyses  and  Gomates 
be  construed  into  a  claim  that  no  such  indi- 
viduals ever  reigned  in  his  day.  The  order  of 
history,  viz.  :  —  Belshazzar,  Cyrus,  Cambyses, 
Gomates,  Darius  —  therefore  remains  intact, 
and  is  not  disarranged  by  any  statement  con- 
tained in  the  book  of  Daniel. 

DanieFs  life  extended  beyond  the  century 
mark.  His  great  age  was  due  to  simple  diet  and 
temperate  habits,  coupled  with  the  Divine  bless- 
30 


DANIEL. 

ing.  Jehoiada  and  Hosea  each  exceeded 
DaniePs  length  of  life.  The  former  reached  the 
age  of  130  years,  and  the  latter  came  close  to 

the    same    figure.— II    Chron.  XXIV,  15,  and  Hosea  I,  1.— 

Up  to  the  last  Daniel  took  part  in  the 
affairs  of  state,  showing  plainly  that  his  "  eye 
was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated.^' 
His  vigor  was  so  remarkable,  that  it  found 
traditional  expression  lasting  as  late  as  the 
time  of  Josephus,  Jos.  x,  ll ;  7. 

We  direct  special  attention  to  the  fact,  that 
the  VI  th  chapter  really  belongs  at  the  end  of 
the  Book,  for  it  gives  us  the  last  experience  as 
well  as  the  last  words,  of  the  great  Prophet. 
The  life  of  Daniel,  from  his  entrance  at  the 
Chaldean  Court  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  to 
his  exit  from  the  den  of  lions  in  old  age,  was 
a  life  of  SUBLIME  faith,  which  abounds  with 
lessons  of  vital  import  to  every  member  of  the 
human  race. 


37 


NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 


III. 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 

The  Chaldean  Empire  reached  its  zenith 
under  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  son  of  Nabopolassar. 
His  reign  began  with  the  year  b.  c.  605  and 
lasted  43  years.  Nabopolassar,  the  father  of 
Nebuchadnezzar, toward  the  close  of  life  shared 
the  government  of  the  kingdom  with  his  mas- 
terful son.  The  latter  besieged  Jerusalem  in 
the  year  b.  c.  606,  only  a  few  months  before 
he  became  sole-ruler  of  the  Chaldeans ;  and 
carried  into  captivity  ^^  certain  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  of  the  king's  seed,  and  of  the 
princes ;  among  these  were  of  the  children  of 
Judah,  Daniel,  Hananiah,  Mishael  and 
Azariah.''^* 

In  speaking  of  the  siege,  the  Jewish  prophets 
were  obliged  to  give  the  time  in  years  of  their 
41 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

own  king  Jehoiakim,  for  technically  Nebu- 
chadnezzar^s  years  had  not  yet  begun.  Very 
naturally  the  prophet  Daniel  gave  the  year,  as 
the  3d  year  of  Jehoiakim,  for  Nebuchadnezzar 
was  not  crowned  until  B.  c.  605,  the  4th  year 
of  Jehoiakim.  On  page  198  will  be  found  a 
group  of  important  references,  detailing  events 
in  the  first  5  years  of  Jehoiakim^s  reign. 
There  is  no  more  occasion  for  writers  of  the 
present  day  to  take  exception  to  this  group  of 
passages,  than  there  will  be  for  future  Avriters, 
say  2500  years  hence,  to  worry  over  the  fact 
that  King  Edward  YII.  carried  on  a  war  with 
South  Africa,  one  year  and  a  half  before  he  was 
crowned  King  of  Great  Britain. 

Nebuchadnezzar's  reign  was  to  Babylon  what 
the  Augustan  age  was  to  Rome,  for  during  his 
time  Babylon  became  the  mistress  of  the  world. 
The  city  was  noted  for  its  beautiful  temples 
and  palaces.  It  was  also  the  centre  of  literary 
culture  and  abounded  in  works  of  art.  In 
42 


NEBUCHADNEZZAK. 

every  way  it  reflected  honor  upon  that  remark- 
able warrior,  engineer,  and  man  of  letters  who 
ruled  its  destiny. 

As  Nebuchadnezzar  besieged  Jerusalem  on 
several  occasions,  and  waged  war  with  Egypt 
in  the  37th  year  of  his  own  reign,  it  is  evident 
that  from  first  to  last  he  was  a  born  warrior. 
He  took  from  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  5400 
vessels  of  gold  and  silver^^  and  led  a  vast  num- 
ber of  Jews  into  captivity.  The  prophet 
Daniel  quickly  came  into  favor,  and  was  placed 
in  the  front  rank  of  the  wise-men  of  Babylon. 
We  need  not  dwell  on  Daniel's  life  at  Court, 
but  remark  in  passing,  that  only  a  man  of 
sterling  integrity  could  stand  the  strain  of  43 
years  amid  such  surroundings. 

After  the  death  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  his  king- 
dom began  to  crumble,  and  finally  the  Babylon- 
ians were  conquered  by  Cyrus  the  Persian  b.  c. 
536.  Cyrus  was  succeeded,  first  by  his  son 
Cambyses  and  then  by  his  son-in-law,  Darius 
43 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

the  Mede.  After  Darius  came  his  son  Xerxes 
and  to  him  succeeded  Artaxerxes  (Longimanus). 
The  various  reigns  from  Nebuchadnezzar  to 
Artaxerxes  are  given  below  : 


Chaldean. 

Period.      Reign. 

King  No.  17 

Nebuchadnezzar    .    bc.  605-562  43  yrs. 

u        u      ig 

Evil-Merodach      .     "     562-560     2     '' 

u      u    29 

Nergal-sarra-utsur      *'     560-556     4     '' 

''      ''     20 

Laborosoarkhodcs       "             556     9  mos. 

<<      n     21 

Nabonadios  (active)   "     556-541  15  yrs. 

''        (i 

nominal)    ''     541-536     0     " 

"      ''     22 

Belshazzar 

.     .     .      ''    541-536      5    " 

Medo-Persian. 

Period.                Reign. 

King  No.  1 

Cyrus 

B.C.  536-529      6  yrs. -6  mos 

a        a      2 

Cambyses 

'^     529-522       7     ''    5     " 

u        u     3 

Gomates 

''    522-521      0     ''    7     '' 

ii      a    4 

Darius     . 

''     521-485     36     "     0     '' 

u        u      5 

Xerxes    . 

.     ''    485-465     20     ''     6     '^ 

«        a      g 

Artaxerxes 

''     465-425     40     ''     0     '' 

Since  the  18th,  19th  and  20th  kings  of 
Babylon  are  passed  over  in  silence  by  Daniel, 
let  us  next  consider  the  reign  of  Belshazzar, 
the  son  of  Nabonadios. 


44 


CHALDEA 


LoDsitude  40°  East  from  45''  Greenwich  50' 

A  f.  BORMAV  4  CO.,  N 

45 


BELSHAZZAR   THE   KING. 


lY. 

BELSHAZZAR. 

Nabonadios,  the  son  of  the  ^^  Wise  Prince/' 
came  to  the  throne  of  Babylon  during  the  dis- 
orders that  followed  the  child-rule  of  Nergal's 
son.  Much  of  his  time  Avas  spent  in  building 
temples  and  restoring  cities.  He  was  some- 
what of  an  antiquarian,  and  narrates  on  one  of 
his  tablets,  that  in  one  instance  he  dug  to  a 
great  depth  in  search  of  a  temple  corner-stone 
and  found  in  it  the  record  of  kings  that  had 
ruled  2300  years  before  his  own  day.  He  also 
speaks  of  his  reign  as,  "  my  long-lasting  reign.'' 
Besides  this  tablet  three  contract-tablets  have 
been  discovered,  Avhich  'mention  Belshazzar  by 
name  and  state  that  he  was  the  son  of  Nabon- 
adios.  These  contracts  were  signed  in  the  5th, 
the  11th  and  the  12th  years  of  Nabonadios' 
47 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

reign.  About  the  15th  year  (which  was  the 
7th  year  of  Cyrus)  the  aged  king  Nabonadios 
seems  to  have  lost  interest  in  public  affairs,  for 
we  find  on  the  Annalistic  Tablet  of  Cyrus,  that 
he  lived  apart  from  the  Court,  also  away  from 
the  Army.  From  that  time  onward  until  the 
fall  of  Babylon,  the  Court  and  the  Army  were 
under  the  control  of  his  son  Belshazzar,  who 
became  acting  King.  Belshazzar  at  the  time 
was  57  years  of  age,  and  was  surrounded  by 
both  wives  and  concubines.  He  held  Court  at 
Akkad,  one  of  the  provinces  of  Babylonia  which 
was  distant  some  50  miles  north  of  Dinter, 
—  the  old  portion  of  Babylon. 

His  father  Nabonadios  lived  at  Tiva  in 
Western  Babylonia,  so  much  retired  that  he 
did  not  even  attend  his  mother's  funeral.  She 
Avas  highly  esteemed, and  ended  her  days  in  the 
fortress  of  the  camp  near  Akkad.  Belshazzar 
gave  his  grandmother  a  military  funeral,  which 
was  followed  by  the  usual  Court  mourning. 
48 


BELSHAZZAR. 

Nabonadios  during  the  last  five  years  of  his 
reign— (the  7th,  8th,  9th,  10th,  and  11th  years 
of  Cyrus) — never  once  visited  the  capital  city 
Dinter,  but  remained  at  Tiva  until  he  was 
driven  out  by  the  army  of  Cyrus.  He  then 
fled  to  Babylon,  was  caught  in  a  hiding-place, 
was  taken  to  Cyrus  and  banished  for  life. 

Turning  now  to  the  fortunes  of  Belshazzar 
we  learn,  that  on  the  approach  of  Cyrus'  army, 
"  the  gods  of  the  country  of  Akkad  which  are 
above  the  sky  and  below  the  sky  entered  Baby- 
lon." In  other  words,  Belshazzar  and  his  Court 
fled  to  Babylon,  for  wherever  the  gods  went 
surrounded  by  the  priests,  you  are  very  sure  to 
find  the  government. 

Cyrus  routed  the  rear  guard  of  the  army  left 
by  Belshazzar  at  Akkad,  and  pressed  on  toward 
the  city  of  Babylon.  By  means  of  a  trench,  he 
turned  the  stream  of  the  Euphrates  and  entered 
through  the  bed  of  the  river.  It  was  night. 
Belshazzar  and  his  Court  were  celebrating  an 
49 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

impious  feast.  The  Persians  entered  the  ban- 
quet hall.  Belshazzar  engaged  in  single  com- 
bat, fell  pierced  by  the  sword  of  his  adversary, 
and  died  in^mediately   aged    62  years. 

The  city  was  captured  without  striking  a 
blow  —  July  1st,  B.C.  536. 

Belshazzar's  mother  died  the  following  Feb- 
ruary. Her  funeral  was  conducted  by  Cam- 
byses  —  the  son  of  Cyrus  —  in  the  ^'  Temple  of 
the  Sceptre  of  the  World."  We  note  that 
Cambyses'  free-will  offerings  aggregated  '^  Ten 
times  the  usual  amount.'^  Such  a  tribute  would 
only  be  paid  by  Royalty  to  Royalty.  AVe 
therefore  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
mother  belonged  to  the  Royal  family  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar and  that  Belshazzar  was  in  truth  a 
descendant  of  the  great  king.  It  is  also  clear, 
that  the  Babylonians  associated  the  family  of 
Nabonadios  with  the  family  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
for  at  a  later  day  —  B.  c.  519  —  one  Nadintabel 
defied  the  sovereignty  of  Darius,  and  said  "  I 
50 


BELSHAZZAK. 

am  Nebuchadnezzar  son  of  Nabonadios/'^^  The 
people  at  once  followed  his  leadership,  and 
although  vanquished  by  Darius,  and  the  pre- 
tender put  to  death,  their  unanimity  of  action 
furnishes  a  positive  proof  of  the  fact,  that  the 
King  and  Queen  sought  to  preserve  the  an- 
cestral name  —  ISTebuchadnezzar  —  by  giving  it 
to  one  of  their  children. 

As  regards  Nadintabel,  we  would  mention 
in  passing,  that  Cyrus  conquered  Belshazzar  in 
B.  c.  536,  and  Darius  conquered  the  usurper 
Nadintabel  in  B.C.  519.  His  victory  is  re- 
corded— Dan.  V. — in  the  form  of  a  parenthesis, 
"  and  Darius  the  Median  took  the  kingdom." 
Thus  the  interval  between  verses  30  and  31 
amounted  to  17  years.  Cyrus  conquered 
Babylon  by  strategy,  but  Darius  besieged  the 
city.  In  the  forecast  of  Isa.  21,  2,  ^^Elam" 
was  the  kingdom  of  Cyrus,  and  ^' Media" 
the  kingdom  of  Darius.  DaniePs  announce- 
ment is  simply  the  record  of  prophecy  fulfilled. 
51 


KING   CYRUS. 


Y. 

CYEUS. 

The  earliest  record  of  Cyrus  tlie  Great  de- 
scribes him  as  King  of  Anzan,  the  country  of 
the  Elamites.  As  their  country  was  located  on 
the  Persian  gulf  they  naturally  became  a  com- 
mercial nation.  But  Cyrus  was  a  born  ruler 
and  rapidly  extended  his  kingdom. ^^  Nabona- 
dioS;when  writing  about  his  own  reign  in  Baby- 
lon, says :  "  On  the  third  year  when  it  came, 
Cyrus  conquered  the  people  of  the  Manda.^' 
As  Nabonadios  began  to  reign  b.  c.  556,  the 
Manda  was  conquered  B.  c.  553.  Six  years 
later  —  b.  c.  547  —  Cyrus  became  King  of  Per- 
sia. We  pass  now  from  the  record  of  Nabona- 
dios  to  the  Annalistic  Tablet  of  Cyrus,  which 
of  course  gives  its  dates  in  terms  of  Cyrus'  own 
reign,  beginning  with  the  year  when  he  became 
55 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

King  of  Persia.  The  characters  relating  to  the 
first  six  years  are  almost  illegible,  but  from  the 
7th  year  onward  to  the  12th  it  is  evident  that 
Cyrus  kept  a  very  close  supervision  of  the  Court 
of  Babylon.  The  tablet  reads  like  a  nice  piece 
of  detective  work.  He  was  in  constant  touch 
with  current  events,  knew  exactly  where 
Nabonadios  lived,  where  Belshazzar  lived, 
what  festivals  were  celebrated,  when  the  King's 
mother  died,  where  the  troops  Avere  stationed, 
and  when  the  gods  of  the  country  entered 
Babylon.  When  at  last,  the  time  was  ripe  for 
striking  a  blow,  Cyrus  knew  exactly  how  to 
prepare  and  how  to  move.  In  the  month  of 
June  "  Cyrus  delivered  battle  against  the  sol- 
diers of  Akkad.  The  men  of  Akkad  raised  a 
revolt,  some  persons  were  slain.  On  the  14th 
of  the  month,  Sippora  Avas  taken  without  fight- 
ing. On  the  16th  day,  Gobryas  the  governor 
of  the  country  of  Ararat  and  the  soldiers  of 
Cyrus,  without  fighting  entered  Babylon.'^ 
56 


CYKUS. 

Having  allowed  three  months  and  a  half  for 
the  pacification  of  the  Provinces,  "  on  the  3d 
day  of  October,  Cyrus  entered  Babylon ;''  in 
other  words,  made  his  formal  entrance  into  the 
city.  He  then  proclaimed  a  general  amnesty, 
B.  c.  536,  and  ruled  with  marked  leniency. 
Wherever  the  gods  of  a  country  had  been 
removed,  as  was  the  case  with  "the  gods 
of  the  country  of  Akkad,  he  returned  them  to 
their  own  cities.''  People  held  in  captivity  he 
liberated  and  in  many  ways  softened  the  hard- 
ship that  inevitably  follows  a  state  of  war. 

He  treated  the  Judean  captives  taken  by 
Nebuchadnezzar  with  open-handed  liberality, 
and  sent  them  home  to  Jerusalem  laden  with 
presents.  He  also  gave  them  5400  vessels  of 
gold  and  silver  belonging  to  their  Temple,  and 
authorized  his  governors  in  Syria  to  aid  in  the 
work  of  restoration. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Akkad,  where 
Belshazzar  held  Court,  was  of  sufficient  impor- 
57 


DANIEL'S  PKOPHECIES. 

tance  to  have  an  army  of  its  own,  and  that  being 
king  of  Akkad  was  counted  an  honor  by  Cyrus. 
The  tablet  speaks  of  Cyrus  as  :  — 

"  The  poAverf ul  king,  the  king  of  Babylon 
The  king  of  Sumer  and  Akkad  — 
The  king  of  the  Four  zones/' 

Cyrus  died  in  the  Spring  of  B.  c.  529  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Cambyses,^^  who  waged  war 
with  Egypt.  Cambyses  died  in  the  Fall  of 
B.  c.  522.  Gomates  the  Magian  then  usurped 
the  throne  of  Persia  and  occupied  it  until  the 
Spring  of  b.  c.  521.  AVe  shall  follow  DanieFs 
example  and  pass  these  two  reigns  without 
comment. 


58 


DARIUS  THE  MEDE. 


YI. 

DARIUS. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  faults  of 
King  Darius,  he  certainly  loved  those  who 
spoke  the  truth  and  thoroughly  detested  one 
who  lied.  He  carefully  warned  his  successors 
against  having  anything  whatever  to  do  with 
such  an  one,  saying  :  —  "  Never  be  a  friend  to 
the  man  who  lies ; "  —  ^^  I  never  uttered  a  lie 
in  all  my  life.''  If  this  trait  in  the  King's 
character  is  questioned  by  any,  they  can  dismiss 
all  doubt,  for  his  words  are  engraved  on  the 
face  of  a  precipitous  bluff  of  the  Behistun  range 
in  Western  Media.  Sir  H.  Rawlinson  procured 
a  copy  of  this  wonderful  record  at  the  risk  of 
his  own  life.  The  bluff,  like  our  Palisades 
on  the  Hudson,  stands  400  feet  above  the  plain 
and  the  inscription  is  so  distant,  that  an  observer 
61 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

cannot  decipher  it,  even  with  the  aid  of  a  pow- 
erful glass.  Sir  Henry  was  lowered  by  ropes 
in  a  swinging  chair  and  exposed  to  rocks  fall- 
ing over  the  ledge.  The  inscription  contains 
1000  lines,  in  cuneiform  characters,  engraved 
in  the  Median,  Persian  and  Assyrian  languages. 
The  words  were  dictated  by  Darius,  and  give  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  important  events  that  hap- 
pened during  his  long  reign.  To  the  Court 
presided  over  by  this  truth-loving  monarch, 
the  Prophet  Daniel  came  as  a  welcome  guest. 
With  the  testimony  of  the  rock  before  us,  we 
are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  Darius,  in  the 
first  year  of  his  reign,  received  the  aged 
Prophet  Avith  open  arms  and  made  him  both 
counsellor  and  Prime  Minister.  We  can  also 
imairine  the  ffrief  of  the  Kinir  when  his  Lords, 
prompted  by  jealousy,  devised  a  scheme  which 
exposed  Daniel  to  the  fury  of  the  lions. 

Darius  was  the  son  of  Hystaspes.     He  says  : 
"  Eight  of    my  family   were   formerly   kings. 
62 


DAKIUS. 

I  am   the  ninth.     In    two   branches    are    we 
kings." 

The  first  branch  reads :  —  Achaemenes, 
Teispes,  Cyrus  I,  Cambyses  I,  Cyrus  II  the 
Great. 

The  second  branch  :  — Achaemenes,  Teispes, 
Ariaramnes,  Arsames,  Hystaspes,  Darius. 

Both  branches  trace  from  Achaemenes,  the 
last  independent  King  of  the  Medes.  There 
were  5  kings  before  Achaemenes.  Ahasuerus 
is  the  Hebrew  for  Xerxes.  Josephus  erred  in 
his  chap,  xi.,  where  he  described  the  life  of 
Artaxerxes^^  and  named  him  Xerxes. 

When  Daniel  speaks  of  Darius  as  the  son 
of  Ahasuerus  he  simply  wished  to  show  that 
Darius  w^as  descended  from  the  Royal  Median 
family.  To  say  that  Darius  was  the  son 
of  Hystaspes  would  not  have  conveyed 
the  proper  idea  of  his  true  dignity.  For 
at  the  time  he  wrote,  Hystaspes  was  only 
the  commander  of  an  Army  Corps;  besides, 
63 


DANIEL'S  PEOPHECIES. 

Hystaspes  had  not  the  nerve  to  attack  Gomates 
the  Magian,  and  in  consequence  did  not  succeed 
to  the  kingdom  on  the  death  of  Carabyses. 
Daniel's  reference  to  the  Royal  family  of  Media 
was  therefore  more  appropriate,  as  well  as 
acceptable  to  Darius.  We  make  the  latter 
statement  on  authority  of  the  King's  own 
words  :  —  At  Behistun  he  says  : 

"  I  am  Darius  [the  great  King,  the  king  of 
kings,  the  king  of  the  Persians,  the  king 
of  the  Lords,  the  son  of  Hystaspes  the 
grandson  of  Arsames]  the  Achaemenian." 

The  brackets  are  our  own  and  were  placed 
there  to  show,  that  in  its  last  analysis  the 
statement  may  be  condensed  to :  — 

"  I    AM  DARIUS,  THE   MEDE," 

precisely  the  words  of  Daniel,  the  Prime 
Minister  of  Darius. 

It  was  customary  in  those  days  for  kings  to 
erect  their  own  monuments, and  Darius  showed 
64 


DARIUS. 

both  patriotism  and  the  strength  of  early  asso- 
ciations by  placing  his  monument  at  Behistun, 
in  the  land  of  the  Medes.  In  view  of  such 
testimony,  no  one  can  doubt  that  Darius  the 
King  was  proud  of  being  known  as  "  Darius 
the  Mede/' 

Again,  when  one  remembers  that  Darius 
married  Atossa,  the  daughter  of  king  Cyrus, 
he  surely  must  abandon  the  notion,  that  the 
son-in-law  ascended  the  throne  of  Persia  before 
the  father  !  Thus  we  see  that  the  testimony 
of  those  massive  cliffs  fully  corroborates  the 
statements  of  the  Prophet  Daniel. 

Darius  tells  us  that  he  conquered  eight  or 
nine  usurpers,  who  on  different  occasions  tried 
to  subvert  his  government.  Darius  himseK 
was  defeated  by  the  Greeks  at  the  battle  of 
Marathon  b.  c.  490.  He  never  recovered  from 
the  blow,  but  died  5  years  later.  Ctesias  the 
Persian  historian  says  that  Darius  reigned  for 
31  years.  Herodotus  and  Manetho  say  36. 
65 


DANIEL'S  PKOPHECIES. 

The  possibility  that^  after  all,  Ctesias  might 
be  correct  and  thus  help  to  explain  the  dates 
of  prophecy,  has  led  the  writer  to  investigate 
the  original  sources  of  Persian  chronology.  A 
most  careful  comparison  of  the  writings  of 
Herodotus,  Thucydides,  Ctesias,  Egibi-tablets, 
Manetho,  the  Almagesta  of  Ptolemy,  Diodorus 
Siculus,  Plutarch  and  Julius  Africanus  has 
firmly  established  the  conviction  that : — 

Darius'  reign  lasted  36  years. 
Xerxes'  reign  lasted  20  years,  6  mos. 
Artaxerxes'  reign  lasted  40  years. 
Total  96 J  years  .  .  .  Spring  521  to  Fall  425. 

The  Bible  student  will  find  that  the  list  of 
Chaldean  and  Medo-Persian  kings  given  on 
page  44  is  in  perfect  accord  both  Avith  the  facts 
of  History  and  with  every  date  of  those 
times,  as  given  in  the  Books  of  ii.  Kings,  ii. 
Chronicles,  Ezra,  INehemiah,  Esther,  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  Daniel,  Haggai,  and  Zechariah. 
66 


XERXES   AND   ARTAXERXES. 


YII. 

XERXES  AND  ARTAXERXES. 

After  the  battle  of  Marathon,  Darius 
undertook  ihe  herculean  task  of  building  4000 
vessels  and  organizing  an  army  of  1,500,000 
men.  AVhen  he  died,  his  son  Xerxes^^  carried 
the  work  to  completion  and  renewed  the  war 
with  Greece.  His  expedition  met  wdth  varied 
siiccess  until  the  fleet  was  caught  in  a  narrow 
passage  and  crippled  at  the  battle  of  Salamis, 
Oct.  2  B.C.  480.  Whereupon  the  greater  por- 
tion of  his  army  retreated  across  the  Helles- 
pont. Those  that  remained  were  defeated  the 
following  year,  by  Pausanius  and  Aristides  at 
the  battle  of  Plataea.  Diodorus  says,  "  Xerxes 
being  informed  of  the  slaughter  of  his  men 
at  Plataea  and  of  the  routing  of  his  army  at 
Mycale,  leaving  part  of  his  forces  to  carry  on 
69 


DANIEL'S  PKOPHECIES. 

the  war,  in  a  great  friglit  fled  with  the   rest 
to  Ecbatana  '^  ^ — the  Achmetha  of  Ezra  vi. 

The  first  alkision  to  Xerxes  is  found  in 
Ezra  4.  6,  where  lie  is  called  Ahasuerus.  The 
book  of  Esther  gives  a  most  interesting  account 
of  Court  life,  in  the  3d,  7th  and  12th  years  of 
his  reign.  Xerxes  died  in  the  Fall  of  B.  c. 
465,  having  reigned  20  years  and  G  months. 


Cyrus,  the  son  of  Xerxes, is  known  in  history 
as  Artaxerxes  Longimanus.^*^  He  treated  the 
Jews  with  clemency,  and  was  instrumental  in 
establishing  them  again  in  their  own  land. 

In  B.  c.  458  —  the  7th  year  of  his  reign  — 
Ezra  the  scribe  ^^  received  donations  from  the 
King  with  authority  to  restore  the  worship  of 
Jehovah.  He  conducted  a  band  of  Levites, 
singers  and  porters  to  Jerusalem  and  began 
the  work  of  reform. 

B.  c.  450  —  the  year  of  the  Commandment 
and  15th  of  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes  —  found 
70 


XERXES  AND  ARTAXERXES. 

the  Jews  in  "great  affliction  and  reproach," 
their  walls  broken  down  and  gates  burned  with 
fire.^^     They  were  thoroughly  discouraged. 

B.  c.  447,  the  Persian  Megabyzus  headed  a 
revolt  in  Syria  and  dictated  terms  to  Artax- 
erxes,  thus  improving  the  Jews  outlook. 

B.  c.  446.  At  last,  Hanani  and  others  went 
to  Babylon  and  reported  their  distress.^^ 

B.  c.  445  —  the  year  of  the  CWenant,  the 
20th  of  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes — the  prophet 
Nehemiah  served  as  his  cup-bearer.  The  King 
noticed  a  peculiar  sadness  in  his  countenance, 
and  on  inquiry  learned  that  it  was  due  to  the 
desolate  condition  of  Jerusalem.  Artaxerxes 
conferred  on  Nehemiah  full  authority  to  rebuild 
its  walls  and  restore  the  temple.^*  He  also 
appointed  him  Governor  of  the  colony  and 
supplied  a  staff,  consisting  of  "  captains  of  the 
army  and  horsemen,'^  to  act  as  his  body-guard. 
Under  these  favorable  circumstances  the  work 
went  forward  with  system  and  despatch,  so  that 
71 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

the  walls  rose  rapidly  and  the  Temple  worship 
was  soon  celebrated  as  of  old.  Nehemiah  held 
the  office  of  Governor  12  years,  until  B.  c.  433, 
possibly  longer ;  but  this  is  the  last  recorded 
date  given  in  his  history.  ^^ 

DaniePs  ^^  vision  concerning  the  daily  sac- 
rifice,''  ^^  called  for  a  sanctuary  and  a  host. 
Consequently  the  temple  service  had  to  be  again 
established  and  a  government  formed  to  repre- 
sent "  the  host  of  Israel,"  before  either  of  them 
could  '^be  trodden  under  foot."  Nehemiah 
met  these  conditions  and  a  new  Covenant  was 
signed  and  sealed.^^  His  experience  also  satis- 
fied the  condition,  that  the  street  and  wall  were 
to  be  built  in  "  troublous  times.^^ 

Artaxerxes  died  in  the  Fall  of  b.  c.  425, 
having  reigned  40  years. 


72 


LOCKING   DATES. 


Yin. 

LOCKING   DATES. 

There  are  two  very  remarkable  passages  in 
the  books  of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  which  may 
be  said  to  be  full  of  chronological  meat.  The 
first  reads  :  — 

The  word  that  came  to  Jeremiah  .... 
in  the  4th  year  of  Jehoiakim — that  was 
the  1st  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar — which 
Jeremiah  spake  unto  all  the  people  of 
Judah  ....  saying,  from  the  13th  year 
of  Josiah  ....  even  unto  this  day,  that 
is  the  3  and  20th  year.''  ^^ 
second  reads  : — 

In  the  5  and  20th  year  of  our  Captivity, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  in  the 
10th  day  of  the  month,  in  the  14th 
year  after  that  the  city  was  smitten, 
in  the  self  same  day.''  ^^ 
75 


The 


DANIEL'S    PROPHECIES. 

Such  a  mass  of  exact  data  may  seem  dry  to 
the  casual  reader,  but  it  is  exceedingly  useful 
to  the  historian,  because  it  enables  him  to  lock 
together  facts  in  their  chronological  order  and 
assign  to  them  correct  dates  expressed  in  terms 
of  years  before  Christ. 

Confining  ourselves  to  the  life  of  Daniel, 
let  us  see  how  this  material  can  be  utilized  in 
determining  the  year  b.  c,  when  the  prophet 
was  taken  captive  by  Nebuchadnezzar  ? 

For  effecting  the  solution  of  this  problem 
the  material  apparatus,  or  working  parts,  con- 
sist of  3  movable  scales  made  of  paper.  One 
divided  into  43  parts  to  represent  years  in 
Nebuchadnezzar's  reign  and  each  part  into 
twelfths  or  months. 

The  second  scale  should  be  divided  in  like 
manner  to  the  extent  of  6Q  parts,  to  represent 
years  B.  c.  628-562.  But  the  third  scale 
should  have  56  parts  to  represent  years  and 
reigns  between  12th  of  Josiah  and  25th  of  the 
76 


LOCKING   DATES. 

Captivity. ^^  The  historical  data  belongs  to 
the  1st,  7th,  8th,  18th  and  19th  years  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  the  1st  year  of  Darius,  and 
the  eclipses  of  Ptolemy.  Thus  equipped,  place 
the  8  scales  parallel  to  each  other  and  move 
them  slowly  to  and  fro  until  the  known  divi- 
sions assume  a  final  position,  in  perfect  accord 
with  the  conditions  of  the  locking  dates.  This 
adjustment  will  reveal  the  fact  that  Nebuchad- 
nezzar began  to  reign  in  the  summer  of  b.  c. 
605,  which  was  the  4th  year  of  Jehoiakim 
king  of  Judah.^^  But  as  Nebuchadnezzar  be- 
sieged Jerusalem  one  year  before  he  was  made 
king  of  Babylon,  that  is  in  the  3d  year  of 
Jehoiakim,  it  follows  that  Daniel  and  his  com- 
panions were  taken  captive  in  the  summer  of 
B.C.  606. 

With  this  one  date  settled,  a  whole  train  of 
important  ones  naturally  follow  in  its  wake, 
for  instance  : — 


77 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

Israel  was  cast  off^^  in   August  B.  c.  590. 

Temple    was     burned     in     July  b.  c.  586. 

1st  Indignation  lasted  until  Oct.  B.  c.  520. 

2d  "  ''  "      Oct.  B.C.  450. 

besides  other  dates  too  numerous  to  mention. 

We  would  remark  in  passing,  that  the  refer- 
ences made  by  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  to  the 
captivity  of  Jehoiachin  have  a  common  starting 
point  in  the  2d  war  of  Nebuchadnezzar  ;  but 
with  this  difference,  Jeremiah  figures  from  the 
beginning  of  that  war,  Ezekiel  from  its  ending. 
As  regards  both  the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
and  that  of  Evil  Merodach,  the  foregoing  solu- 
tion also  shows  that  Bible  chronology  is  in 
perfect  accord  with  the  Canon  of  Ptolemy. 


78 


STARTING-POINTS    OF    PROPHECY. 


IX. 

STAKTING-POINTS  OF  PROPHECY. 

The  year  b.  c.  536  was  one  of  great  rejoicing 
among  the  inhabitants  of  Judah  and  Benjamin, 
for  it  marked  the  end  of  their  long  captivity 
(b.  c.  606  to  536).  Cyrus  gave  them  their 
freedom  and  appointed  Zerubbabel  governor 
of  the  colony,  and  delivered  into  his  hands  the 
precious  vessels  of  the  Temple.  The  people 
left  Babylon,  with  bright  prospects  for  the 
future,  intent  on  re-establishing  the  worship 
of  Jehovah  at  Jerusalem.  After  two  years' 
time,  when  the  foundations  were  finished,  their 
adversaries  made  overtures  toward  joining  in 
the  work.  But  when  their  services  were  refused 
they  sought  to  hinder  it,  and  finally  secured 
an  injunction  during  the  reign  of  Cambyses, 
81 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES, 
which  remained   in    force    until   after   Darius 

came  into  power.    Sec  Ezra  and  Haggai. 

The  autliority  to  build  was  again  a  subject 
of  dispute  and  the  matter  referred  to  the  new 
King.  Darius  instituted  an  unsuccessful  search 
in  the  house  of  the  rolls  at  Babylon.  The 
original  decree,  however,  was  found  in  the 
palace  at  Achmetha,  in  the  province  of  the 
Medes.  Whereupon,  Darius  immediately  dis- 
solved the  injunction,  and  ratified  the  decree. 
Besides  this  he  made  generous  contributions 
toward  carrying  on  the  work.  The  altar  was 
erected  in  September  b.  c.  520,  and  the  Temple 
finished  in  February  B.C.  515. 

During  the  next  70  years  desolation  again 
overtook  the  City,  for  God  had  said,^*  '^  I 
will  recompense  their  iniquity  and  their  sin 
DOUBLE,  because  they  have  defiled  my  land  ;'' 
also,  ^^I  will  kindle  a  fire  in  the  gates  of 
Jerusalem  if  ye  will  not  harken  unto  me  to 
hallow  the  sabbath  day.'' 
82 


STAKTING-POINTS    OF  PROPHECY. 

God's  request  of  the  Jews  to  turn  and 
receive  his  blessing  was  made  in  the  month  of 
October  b.  c.  520.  Daniel's  studies  enabled 
him  to  look  forward  just  70  years.  This 
brought  him  to  the  month  of  October  b.  c.  450. 
He  could  go  no  further.  Right  at  this 
point,  where  Daniel  came  to  a  stand-still,  a 
revelation  was  sent  by  ''  the  man  Gabriel,"  who 
made  known  to  the  prophet,  that  Seventy 
Weeks  had  been  determined,  and  then  ex- 
plained how  those  weeks  would  be  sub-divided. 
October  b.  c.  450  was  therefore  the  start- 
ing-point of  this  revelation,  or  date  when  God 
gave   "the  Commandment   to   restore   and  to 

build  Jerusalem."    2  Kin.  24,  3.  -  Jer.  31,  28.— Ezra  G,  14. 

Since  the  Temple  was  finished  in  B.C.  515 
and  desolations  would  intervene  during  the 
next  70  years,  its  restoration  should  take 
place  in  the  year  b.  c.  445.  This  is  ex- 
actly what  did  happen.  In  445  Nehemiah 
restored  the  Temple  worship  and  celebrated 
83 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  in  a  manner  nnknown 
^^  since  the  days  of  Joshua."  ^'  Then  followed 
a  solemn  fast  and  the  signing  of  a  ^^sure 
covenant  '^  to  which  the  seals  of  the  Princes, 
Levites  and  priests  were  attached. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  whenever  God 
gave  a  "  commandment  to  restore  and  to  build/' 
his  decree  was  the  forerunner  of  a  period  of 
peace  among  the  nations.  For  example,  in 
B.  c.  520  the  heavenly  sentinel  answered  : 
^^  We  have  walked  to  and  fro  through  the  earth, 
and,  behold  all  the  earth  silteth  still  and  is  at 
rest.''  '^  In  b.  c.  450,  the  "  Peace  of  Ivimon  " 
was  negotiated  between  the  Greeks  and  Per- 
sians, followed  closely  in  b.  c.  445  by  the 
"  30  years  Peace."  From  which  we  learn  that 
the  years  b.  c.  520  and  450 — the  starting-points 
of  the  time-revelations  made  to  the  Prophet 
DanieP^ — were  years  of  profound  Peace  among 
the  nations,  as  well  as  years  of  special 
Commandment,  Both  were  Sabbatic  years. 
84 


FORBEARANCE   AND   JUDGMENTS. 


Saul  made  King 


Graphic  Exhibit. 

B.  C.  1080 


Sabbatic  year. 


'  Thunder  and  Rain  "   a 
1  Sam.  12,  15,  17         | 


490  years  of 
FORBEARANCE 


Nebuchadnezzar  sent         „  „    ton 

to  punish  the  Jews       "•  ^-  ^^^ 

Sabbatic  year. 

70  Years  "  Indignation  "- 


Commandment  to 


.c.  520- 


restore  Temple 

70  Years  "  Indignation  ' 
Commandment  to 


restore  City  Walls 


B.  c.  450« 


490  Years,  or 
"SEVENTY  WEEKS" 


Romans  sent  to 
punish  the  Jews 


A.  D.  40" 


"SHORTENED  "  5  years 
Matt.  24,  22 

Jews  scattered  among 

all  Nations.    Dan.  12.  7 ^ 


c.  536 


^70  Years  CAPTIVITY 


Work  delayed 


^— i B.C.  520 

A  Sabbatic  year. 

I 

'TIME" 


B.C.  450 

^         Sabbatic  year. 


'TIMES' 


.A.  D.  40 


HALF  TIME' 


• A.D.  70 


85 


THE  TIME  OF  THE  END. 


THE  TIME  OF  THE  END. 

The  expression  ^^  Time  of  the  End/'  must 
not  be  confused  with  that  other  terminal,  known 
as  "  End  of  the  Days."  It  is  anticipating  our 
subject  a  little,  at  this  point  of  the  investi- 
gation, to  indicate  the  purpose  of  DaniePs 
prophecies.  So  much  misconception,  however, 
prevails  on  this  subject,  that  it  becomes  neces- 
sary to  say  at  once  that  his  prophecies  are 
enclosed  by  boundaries  less  than  600  years 
apart.  It  is  well  to  note  his  many  allusions  to 
the  Time  of  the  End. 

'^  At  the  Time  of  the  End  shall  be  the  vision. 

"  At  the  time  appointed  the  End  shall  be. 

^^  Make  them  white  even  to  the  Time  of  the  End. 

^^  At  the  Time  of  the  End  shall  the  king, 

"  Seal  the  Book  even  to  the  Time  of  the  End. 

\ "  The  words  are  sealed  till  the  Time  of  the  End." 

89 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

Many  imagine,  that  these  sentences  refer 
to  the  End  of  the  World.  This  is  not  true  ! 
They  refer  only  to  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and 
the  scattering  of  the  Jewish  people.  Moses, 
their  great  lawgiver,  had  predicted, nearly  1000 
years  before  Daniel's  day,  that  if  they  would 
"  hearken  diligently  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord 
their  God  to  observe  and  to  do  all  his  com- 
mandments, then  the  Lord  would  set  them  up 
on  high,  above  all  the  nations  of  the  earth."^^ 
But  if  they  forsook  his  Covenant  and  followed 
the  gods  of  the  heathen,  then  the  Lord  would 
root  them  out  of  the  land  in  anger  and  scatter 
them  among  all  people,  from  one  end  of  the 
earth  even  unto  the  other.  Down  through  the 
centuries,  the  words  of  Moses  went  unheeded. 
Prophets  followed  prophets,  uttering  solemn 
notes  of  warning  ;  but  all  of  no  avail.  Finally 
the  prophet  Daniel  was  sent  with  a  message, 
that  fixed  a  time-limit,  beyond  which  Divine 
forbearance  would  no  longer  be  extended. 
90 


THE  TIME  OF  THE  END. 

The  punishment  would  be  inflicted.  Jerusa- 
lem, their  capital  city,  would  be  destroyed,  and 
as  a  people  they  would  be  scattered  from  one 
end  of  the  earth  to  the  other. — Dan.  xii.  7. 

In  the  face  of  such  a  message,  every  Israelite 
would  have  to  admit,  that  the  nation  received 
a  fair  warning.  The  forecast  was  not  alto- 
gether dark.  The  message  also  brought  words 
of  promise.  The  prophet  told  them,  that 
Messiah  would  come  during  the  week  of  the 
Covenant,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  week*^ 
he  would  "  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity.'^ 
This  meant,  according  to  every  form  of  relig- 
ious belief,  that  he  would  make  a  sacrifice.  But 
according  to  the  Hebrew  law,  it  involved  the 
outpouring  of  the  blood  of  a  living  creature. 
The  Prophet  adds:  —  '^ After  three  score  and 
two  weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cut  off.'^  In 
brief,  slain!  —  The  sacrifice,  however,  would 
differ  from  those  ordered  by  Moses  in  its 
lasting  effect,  and  its  complete  sufficiency, 
91 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

because  the  reconciliation  he  would  make 
for  iniquity,  would  "  bring  in  everlasting 
rio^hteousness  and  make  an  end  of  sin.''  A 
satisfaction  so  complete  would,  of  necessity, 
"cause  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation"  (insti- 
tuted by  Moses)  "  to  cease." 

Thus,  Messiah  would  establish  a  new  spir- 
itual "  kingdom  that  all  people,  nations  and 
languages  should  serve  him,  an  everlasting 
dominion  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his 
kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed."^'' 
The  Time  of  the  End  therefore  reached  its 
extreme  limit  when  Titus  took  Jerusalem, 
September  3d,  a.  d.  70. 

Daniel  used  the  expression  End  of  the  Days 
only  once,  meaning  the  end  of  all  days  —  the 
end  of  the  World.  His  heavenly  visitor  gave 
no  intimation  whatever  as  to  when  that  day 
would  come  ;  he  simply  assured  Daniel ;  "  thou 
shalt  rest  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  End 
of  the  Days."  In  this  respect  therefore  the 
92 


THE  TIME  OF  THE  END. 

teachings  of  Daniel  are  in  perfect  harmony 
with  those  of  the  :N'ew  Testament.  "  Of  that 
day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man ;  no,  not  the 
angels  of  Heaven/^^* 


93 


THE   NATIONAL  DAY. 


XL 
THE  NATIONAL  DAY. 

Since  many  systems  for  registering  time 
prevailed  between  Daniel's  day  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  Era,  it  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  for  us  to  understand  the  mutual 
relation  of  the  five  most  prominent. 

The  Babylonians  dated  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  reign  of  their  first  king  Nabunatsir, 
B.  c.  747,  and  they  used  A.  n.  (Anno  Nabonass) 
the  same  as  we  use  A.  d.  The  Romans  counted 
from  the  foundation  of  Rome.  Their  years 
were  A.  u.  (Anno  Urbis).  The  Greeks  counted 
from  the  first  celebration  of  the  Olympic  games, 
and  called  their  periods  of  4  years  each, 
olympiads.  The  years  of  the  Macedonian 
dynasty  were  called  years  of  the  Seleucidae. 
The  Asmoneans  counted  from  the  first  year 
of  Judas  Maccabeus.  As  to  the  rest,  it  may 
97 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

be  said,  there  were  almost  as  many  systems 
as  there  were  nations  or  tribes. 

Eutropius  locates  the  first  olympiad  just  23 
years  prior  to  the  foundation  of  Rome.^^  In 
doing  so,  he  followed  the  date  accepted  as  being 
correct  by  many  noted  authors,  for  instance 
Cicero,  Pliny  and  Censorius.  According  to 
this  standard,  the  year  A.  u.  753  began  April 
B.  c.  1  and  ended  April  a.  d.  1. 

The  first  Universal  Exposition  of  athletic 
sports  was  celebrated  by  the  Greeks  in  the 
town  of  Olympia.  Coroebus  was  the  victor, 
and  so  great  was  the  success  of  the  venture, 
they  decided  to  hold  it  every  4  years.  They 
called  the  period  an  olympiad,  and  spoke  of 
any  event,  as:  —  ^^  It  fell  out  in  the'^  1st,  2d, 
3d  or  4th  year  of  a  certain  olympiad.  At  first, 
each  olympiad  was  named  after  the  victor  ;  but 
in  later  years  the  proper  numeral  was  assigned 
to  the  olympiad.  The  games  lasted  5  days, 
and    were    celebrated   between    the    new   and 


THE  NATIONAL  DAY. 

full-moon  first  following  the  Summer  Solstice, 
June  25tli.  To  avoid  the  difficulty  of  many 
calculations,  historians  have  settled  on  July  1st 
as  being  the  first  day  of  every  olympiad. 

By  the  Greek  system  of  measuring  time,  the 
[194th  olympiad  3d  year  6th  month]  marked 
the  end  of  the  years  Anno  Urbis,  and  the  point 
where  Anno  Domini  began  with  the  date 
Januaky  1st,  a.  d.  1.  The  full  time,  from 
the  1st  Olympic  game  to  January  1st  of  the 
Christian  era,  was  775  years  6  mos.  5  days. 
By  means  of  these  figures,  we  can  readily 
bring  prophetic  events  into  line,  with  standard 
measures  of  time. 

The  reign  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  was  an 
important  period  in  the  history  of  the  Israelites, 
for  he  tried  by  every  means  in  his  power  to 
destroy  the  worship  of  Jehovah.  He  not  only 
erected  an  idol-altar  upon  the  ruins  of  the  altar 
at  Jerusalem,  but  he  sacrificed  swine  upon 
it  and  forced  the  Jews  to  make  an  offering 
99 


DANIEL'S  PKOPHECIES. 

of  swine,  every  day  of  the  week,  upon  special 
altars  erected  in  every  city  and  village  of 
Palestine.  His  impious  rule  developed  intense 
animosity  among  the  people,  who  being  led  by 
Judas  Maccabeus  regained  possession  of  the 
Temple,  and  dedicated  it  anew,  "in  the  148th 
year,  the  25th  of  Chisleu  and  on  the  154th 
olympiad. ""^^  This  day  came  exactly  3  years 
after  divine  worship  had  been  stopped  by 
Antiochus.  On  it,  "they  again  lighted  the 
lamps,  offered  incense,  laid  the  loaves  on  the 
table  and  offered  burnt  offerings  upon  the  new 
altar.^'  In  subsequent  years  they  commemorated 
the  occasion  by  celebrating  the  Feast  of  Lights. 
Although  that  day  marked  the  renewal  of 
worship,  the  Syrian  troops  still  held  possession 
of  the  Fortress  adjoining  the  Temple.  The  sacred 
enclosure  was  also  used  as  a  market-place  for 
buying  and  selling, and  the  troops  passed  through 
the  Temple-area  daily,  on  their  journeys  to  the 
adjoining  country  in  search  of  supplies.  So 
100 


THE  NATIONAL  DAY. 

long  therefore  as  they  occupied  the  Fortress, 
the  Temple  pollution  continued  to  exist.  After 
a  number  of  years,  the  high  priest  Simon  sent 
commissioners  to  king  Demetrius  and  made 
complaint  against  the  governor  Tryphon/^  who 
had  ruled  Judea  in  a  manner  ''  no  better  than 
robbery."  Although  Demetrius  made  many 
concessions  and  granted  immunity  from  taxa- 
tion the  troops  still  remained.  Simon,  as  a 
last  resort,  cut  off  "  their  supplies  and  a  great 
number  perished  through  famine."  This  forced 
them  to  capitulate.  '^  Simon  made  peace  with 
them,  and  when  he  had  put  them  out  from 
thence,  he  cleansed  the  Fortress  from  its  pollu- 
tions and  he  entered  into  it  the  3  and  20th  day 
of  the  2d  month  in  the  171st  year,  with  praise 
and  palm  branches  and  with  harps  and  with 
cymbals,  and  with  viols  and  with  hymns  and 
with  songs  ;  because  there  was  destroyed  a  great 
enemy  out  of  Israel.  He  ordained  also,  that 
day  should  be  kept  every  year,  with  gladness." 
101 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

Halcyon  days  of  peace  followed  this  event. 
Simon  was  permanently  settled  In  office  and 
absolute  power  placed  in  his  hands  by  his 
grateful  countrymen.  The  restoration  of  the 
Temple  service  was  followed  by  a  rapid  expan- 
sion of  territory.  To  give  greater  emphasis  to 
the  event,  the  people  erected  on  Mount  Sion, 
a  commemorative  tablet  of  brass,  which  was 
placed  in  position  on  ^^the  18th  day  of  the 
month  Elul  in  the  172d  year,  being  the  3d 
year  of  Simon  the  high  priest. "^^ 

Fortunately,  the  National  day  is  one  of  the 
best  settled  dates  in  Jewish  history.  It  is  the 
focal  date  of  Daniel's  list  of  days,^^  the  day 
foretold  by  the  words :  "  Then  shall  the 
Sanctuary  be  cleansed.^'  The  "2300  —  1290 
— 1335  days  '^  of  prophecy,  all  radiate  from  the 
National  day.  The  "2300  days''  extend 
backward  into  the  years  of  b.  c,  while  the 
others  reach  forward  into  the  years  of  A.  d, 

Before  we  can  bring  out  the  significance  of 
102 


THE  NATIONAL  DAY. 

these  DAYS  we  must  locate  the  National  day 
in  its  relation  to  the  Christian  Era.  The  feast 
of  lights  will  render  good  service  in  this  con- 
nection, for  it  has  been  given  both  in  years  of 
the  Seleucidse  and  in  Olympic  periods.  We 
know  that  the  Temple  was  dedicated  anew  in 
the  first  year  of  the  154th  olympiad/^  because 
the  sacrifice  ceased  in  the  153d  olympiad  2d 
year/^  just  3  years  before  the  dedication. 

This  gives  us,  from  the  1st  Olympic  game : — 

Yrs.  Mos.  Days- 
To  the  Christian  Era 775      6        5 

''     ''  Feast  of  Lights 612      5      10 


163      0      25 


Also,  from  Era  of  Seleucidge  :  — 

Yrs.   Mos.  Days. 
To  National  day .     .     .     170      1      23 

"  Feast  of  Lights    .     .     147      8      25 

From  Feast  of  Lights  to  National  day     .       22      4      28 

.-.  National  day  =  May  4  B.C.  141      .     .     140      7      27 

Thus  prophetic  events  are  brought  into  line 
with  standard  measures  of  time. 
103 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

Proof. — Passover  day  in  B.C.  141,  or  15th 
day  of  1st  month  came  on  Marcli  27th.  It 
follows  that  National  Bay,  or  23d  day  of  the 
2d  month  was  celebrated  May  4th.  We  have 
this  Passover  day  from  the  Jewish  savant 
Pev.  Joseph  L.  Sossnitz,  of  AVarschau,  who  at 
the  time  of  making  the  calculation  was  a 
stranger  to  us,  without  the  slightest  knowl- 
edge as  to  why  we  asked  for  Passover  day 
in  B.  c.  141.  We  take  pleasure  in  stating 
that  Rev.  Sossnitz  was  the  author  of  ^^  Idan 
Olamim,"  or  Ewiger  Kalender,  published  in 
Russia,  in  the  year  1888. 


104 


ANCIENT   ERAS. 


Graphic  Exhibit. 


Era  of  Greece 

June  25,  B.  c.  776 

First  Olympic  game 

A 

Julian  period  3938 

Founding  of  Rome 

....April  21,  B.  c  753 

29  years. 

1 

V 

Feb.  26,  B.  C.  747 

A 

* 

4i 

5 

years. 

T?rn  nf  Splpnr-iflaP     ^^^^ 

7 

Oct.  B.C.  312 

Jewish  year  a.  m.  3450 

I 

i 

311 

years. 

National 

Tnrlpppnrlpnpp  Dfly     ^_^^ 

May  4,  B.C.  141 

Era  of  Christianity 

■\ 

7 

Jan.  1,  A.  D.  1 

194  Olym.    3  yrs.  6  mos.  5  days. 


Julian  Period  4714 


105 


EVENING-MORNINGS 

OR 

DAYS. 


XII. 
DAYS. 

The  word  day  has  been  used  in  Scripture  to 
express  various  time-limits,  occasionally  extend- 
ing only  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  but  generally 
the  entire  24  hours.  Applied  to  patriarchal 
life  it  stood  for  a  whole  year.  Jacob's  answer 
to  Pharaoh  reads,  "  the  days  of  the  years  of 
my  pilgrimage  are  a  hundred  and  thirty 
years,"  thus  calling  each  year  a  day.  The 
Apostle  Peter  added  still  another  meaning  to 
the  word  day  when  he  wrote,  "  one  day  is 
with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a 
thousand  years  as  one  day.'' 

In    the   book   of   Genesis,''^  the   periods   of 

Creation  are  called  days,  '^And  the  evening 

and'  the  morning  were  the  first  day."     Again, 

speaking  of  the  entire  group  of  seven,  it  was 

107 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

said  : — '^  In  the  day  that  the  Lord  God  made 
the  earth  and  the  heavens." 

Since  among  the  ancients,  a  week  could 
be  spoken  of  as  a  day  and  by  them  the  number 
seven  was  used  to  express  perfection ;  seven 
times  seven  or  49  ordinary  days  should  con- 
stitute their  perfect  day.  Such  a  measure  of 
time  would  naturally  form  one  of  the  elements 
in  a  Code  like  that  of  the  Prophet  Daniel. 
In  his  prophecy  we  find  three  periods  of  Days  : 
viz.  : — 2300  Evening-mornings,  1290  Days 
and  1335  Days.  Here  the  word  ^^evening- 
mornings  "  intimates  that  these  were  entire  or 
perfect  days.^^  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  Levitical  Law  set  aside  a  remarkable 
group  of  49  days,  and  followed  them  by  a 
feast  called  the  Feast  of  Weeks/^  or  Pentecost. 
In  like  manner,  the  Law  set  aside  a  group  of 
49  years,  and  followed  it  by  a  year  of  liberty, 
or  Jubilee.^^  The  Jews  have  faithfully  ob- 
served these  periods  throughout  their  gener- 
ics 


DAYS. 

ations,  yet  all  the  while  they  have  been  oblivi- 
ous to  the  fact  that  the  number  49  was  one 
of  the  keys  of  Prophecy. 

We  heartily  accept  1:49  as  the  prophetic 
ratio,  and  will  extend  the  periods  on  this  basis : — 

2300  multiplied  by  49  =  112700  days. 
1290        ''  "  49=    63210     " 

45         ''  ''49=      2205     " 

Now  the  length  of  a  sidereal  year  is  the  time 
in  which  the  earth  makes  one  revolution ;  the 
point  of  reference  being  a  fixed  star  : 

Sidereal  year  =:  365  days,  6  hrs.  9  min.  9.6  sec. 

A  year,  therefore,  equals  : 

365.2563611  days. 

Dividing  each  period  of  days  by  the  number 
of  days  in  one  year,  we  obtain  the  actual  length 
of  each  prophetic  period.  The  calculations, 
as  shown  by  the  Chart  facing  page  114  of  this 
book,  give  us  for  : — 

109 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

2300  DAYS  a  total  of  308  yrs.  6  mos.  21  days.  . 
1290     ''  ''      "  173    ''    0     ''     21     '' 

45     ''  ''      ''       6    "     0     "     13     " 

These  amounts,  however,  must  be  brought 
into  line  with  the  chronology  of  the  Christian 
Era,  before  we  can  discover  the  events  to  which 
they  have  reference. 

We  have  show^n  on  chart  that  from  : — 

Yrs.    Mos,    Days. 
First  of  2300  days  to  National  day     =  308       6       21 
National  day  to  Christian  Era    .     .     =140       7       27 


First  of  2300  days  to  Christian  Era    =  449       2       18 
in  other  words  :—  — ^^— — — 

OCTORER    14    B.  C.    450   TO   A.  D.    1. 

This  determines  the  starting-point  for  three 
great  periods  of  Prophecy,  viz.: — 2300  Even- 
ing-mornings ;  Seventy  Weeks ;  and  "  Com- 
mandment to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem." 

All  issued  from  that  one  date,^"^  and  it  was 
located  just    70  years    later  than    the   special 
Promise  given  in  October  B.  c.  520,  and  men- 
tioned in  Zechariah  i,  1,2, 3. 
110 


DAYS. 
Again,  from  the  :  — 

Yrs.  Mos.  Days. 
National  day  forward  1290  days  .  .  =  173  0  21 
But  National  day  to  Christian  Era     .     .     140       7       27 

.  '.Portion  of  1290  days  in  Christian  Era  =  32       4       24 


Which  brings  us  to  May  24th,  a.  d.  33 — 
"that  great  and  notable  day  of  the 
LORD  '^ — the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  many 
were  purified  and  made  white.^*  The  Passover^^ 
that  year  fell  on  April  4th,  according  to  the 
Julian  method  of  calculation ;  on  April  2d  by 
the  Gregorian  ;  and  on  April  3d  by  Astronomy. 
The  New  Testament  agrees  with  the  latter. 
Accepting  April  3d  as  Passover  day,  the  feast 
took  place  after  sundown  on  April  2d,  and  the 
wave  offering  followed  on  April  4th.  Thence 
50  days  brings  us  to  the  twin-days  upon  which 
Pentecost^^  was  celebrated,  viz.:  to  May  23d 
and  24th.  Luke  tells  us  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  given,  "when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was 
FULLY  come.'*  The  event  therefore  hap- 
Ill 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

pened  precisely  as  foretold  by  the  Heavenly 
visitor,  who  said  to  Daniel,  "  the  vision  of  tlie 
evening  and  the  morning  which  was  told  is 
true/^  and  it  came  about  with  that  perfect 
degree  of  exactness  with  which  astronomers 
become  so  familiar,  in  their  study  of  the 
heavenly  bodies. 


Finally,  measuring  time  from  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  Era,  the  periods  taken  in 
succession  were  as  follows  :  — 

Yrs.    Mos,  Days. 
Holy  Spirit  revealed  to  the  Jews  .     .     32      4      24 


u 


Gentiles      6      0      13 


The  time  of  special  blessing*' arrived  ....  38      5        7 
in  other  words  :—  - 

June  7th,  a.  d.  39, 
precisely  70  days  later  than  the  Passover. 

The  Holy  Spirit's  appearance  to  the  Gentiles 
in  the  Summer  of  A.  D.  39  was  at  a  time  pecu- 
liarly favorable  for  the  conversion  of  Cornelius. 
The   persecution   of    A.  D.    36,  following    the 
112 


DAYS. 

dismissal  of  Pilate,  was  succeeded  by  a  period 
of  rest  and  rapid  growth  among  the  infant 
churches.  There  was  neither  the  marching  of 
armies,  nor  even  the  rumor  of  war.  True, 
these  all  came  in  the  Spring  of  A.  D.  40,  when 
Petronius  was  sent  to  Syria  with  instructions  to 
place  the  images  of  the  Romans  in  the  Temple 
at  Jerusalem.  It  may  be  said  in  passing,  that 
the  expedition  landed  in  Ptolemais.  But  the 
attitude  of  the  Jews  was  so  determined,  that 
Petronius  sent  to  Rome  for  additional  instruc- 
tions. Meantime  the  Emperor  died,  and  in  the 
Fall  of  A.  D.  40  the  expedition  was  abandoned. 
The  year  a.  d.  39,  however,  was  a  time  of  peace 
and  good  order ;  a  time  most  favorable  to  the 
all-important  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Results  of  Chart : — The  chart  clearly  proves 
that  the  1290-day  period  is  a  perfect  fit  between 
two  well-known  dates.  The  other  periods  give 
us  two  extremely  important  dates  heretofore 
absolutely  unknown. 

113 


THE    ONLY    KEY 


2300  DAYS. 


Sidereal  year  ^  365  days 
6  lirs. 
9  min. 
9.6  sec. 


65.0000000  days. 
0.2500000     '"' 
0.0062500     " 
0.0001111     " 


2300  "days." 


20104078120 
18262818055 


3652563611 
14610254444 
18262818055 
18262818055 
201.040753713051  days. 

2300  DAYS  equal  to  : 

308  YEARS,      6 


14978259500 
146102.54444 

3680050560 
3652563611 


21  DAYS. 

> 


TO    DANIEL'S 

1290  DAYS. 

1290  "days." 
49 


PROPHECIES. 


1161 


.2563611)63210.00000(1 
'^  36.525  6.S61K 


1.0565343  years. 


23867116450 
21915381666 


10957 
14610254444 
10957690833 
18262818055 
21915381666 
182628180.55 


20.64951269533.573  days. 
1290  DAYS  equal  to  : 

173  YEAKS,      ( 
NATIONAL  DAY, 

May  4  B.  C.  141    < 

"TEMPLE  CLEANSED." 


19517347840 
182628180.55 

12.54.5297850 
10957690833 

1.5876070170 
14610254444 


1336  DAYS. 

1335  "days." 
Less     1290 
rence        45  "days." 


365.2563611  )  2205.0000000  (  0.036856  years. 
^2191.5381666^ 
13461833400 
10957690833 


20399311.520 
1826-.'8 180.55 


21364934650 
21915381666 


2191.5381666 
182628180.55 
29220508888 
21915381666 
10957 


13.4618884447016  days. 


45  DAYS  equal  to 

6  YRARS, 


GaBAT  AND  NOTABLE  DAY  OF  THE  LORD." 


0  MONTHS,       13  DAYS. 

THE  SPIRIT  BE.'STOWED, 

>    June7A.  D.  39 

"ON  THE  GE.NTIL 


Copyright  1902.  by  W.  S.  Apchincloss. 


ILE8  ALSO." 


Ezamined  and  Found  Correct,  LAWRENCE  E.  BROWS   A  CO., 

Public  Accountants  fur  State  of  Pennsylv 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

pillars,  10  sockets.  After  the  Israelites  had 
tempted  the  Lord  10  times,  they  were  con- 
demned to  die  in  the  wilderness.  Ten  plagues 
were  inflicted  on  the  Egyptians.  In  the 
matter  of  taxation,  the  herd  was  divided  into 
10  parts  and  one  part  set  aside  for  the  Lord. 
When  Nebuchadnezzar  tested  Daniel  and  his 
companions,  ^'\\e  found  them  10  times  better 
than  all  the  magicians  and  astrologers."  Thus 
we  see  plainly  that  the  numerals  7  and  10  con- 
veyed the  idea  of  completeness  and  perfection 
to  the  Hebrew  mind. 

Number  70,  the  product  of  these  two  nun\- 
bers,  marks  the  ordinary  boundary  of  human 
existence.  Moses  said  in  the  xc.th  Psalai : — 
"  The  days  of  our  years  are  three  score  years  and 
ten."  A  base  line  of  70  years,  will  be  found 
just  as  convenient  for  the  measurement  of  long 
periods,  as  one  of  60  minutes  serves  for  those  of 
shorter  length.  Seventy  years  is  properly  called 
a  Time,  because  it  stands  for  the  time  man 
118 


WEEKS  AND  TIMES. 

spends  on  earth.  That  this  is  the  Scriptural 
sense  is  shown  plainly  by  studying  the  follow- 
ing passages  in  connection  with  the  history  of 

Babylon  :    Dan.  7, 12  and  Jer.  25, 11,  12. 

Still  further  we  learn  that  a  Season  was  equal 
to  two  human  lives,  or  140  years — the  seven- 
score  of  the  ancients.  Taking  70  as  a  Time 
unit,  the  plural  Times  would  be  represented 
by  a  week  of  units,  viz.  :  7  times  70  or  490 
years.  The  Babylonian  captivity  lasted : — 
^^  Until  the  land  had  enjoyed  her  sabbaths ; 
for  as  long  as  she  lay  desolate  she  kept  sabbath, 
to  fulfil  three  score  and  ten  years.''  Each 
one  of  these  70  years  stood  for  a  period  of  7 
years,  because  the  law  read  : — ^'  6  years  thou 
shalt  sow  thy  field,  and  6  years  thou  shalt 
prune  thy  vineyard,  but  in  the  7th  year  shall 
be  a  sabbath  of  rest  unto  the  land.''  The 
captivity  therefore  represented  7  times  70,  or 
490  years  of  disobedience,  and  since  the  punish- 
ment came  490  years  after  Saul  ^vas  made 
no 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

King,  the  passage  incidentally  notes  the  limit 
of  God^s  forbearance  and  mercy. 

Daniel  also  refers  to  a  limit  of  the  same 
length  when  he  says  : — "  Seventy  Weeks  are 
determined  to  finish  the  transgression,  etc." 
We  thus  arrive  finally  at : — 

THE   CODE   OR   KEY   TO   DANIEL'S 
PROPHECIES. 

Symbol.  Meaning, 

Day 49  days  of  24    hours. 

Week 7  years  ''  36 5 J  days. 

Time 70     '^      ^^    ^^         " 

Season 140     '^     ''    " 

Times 490     '^      "    " 


120 


DANIEL'S   INSPIRATION. 


XIY. 
DANIEL'S  INSPIRATION. 

The  book  of  Daniel  gives  clearer  evidence 
of  Divine  inspiration  than  all  the  other  books 
of  the  Bible.  Leaving  out  of  consideration  the 
question,  When  did  Daniel  live  ? — or  was  there 
ever  such  a  person  as  Daniel  the  Prophet  ?  — 
no  one  denies  that  the  book  was  written  more 
than  a  century  before  the  birth  of  Christ. 

Now,  taking  it  merely  as  a  human  produc- 
tion, we  ask  you  frankly  :  —  Could  any  human 
being  predict  these  widely  separated  dates,  and 
every  date  prove  faultless,  unless  he  was  first 
qualified  to  do  so  by  Divine  instruction  ? 

Daniel  has  been  ranked  with  the  patriarchs 

Noah  and  Job.'^^     Noah  proclaimed  the  Flood 

100   years    before    its    arrival.       But    Daniel 

foretold    the    destruction    of    Jerusalem    600 

123 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

years  before  its  downfall.  Job  maintained 
his  integrity,  in  spite  of  sore  adversity  and 
unfriendly  criticisms.  But  Daniel  spent  a 
long  life  amid  the  allurements  of  Eastern 
Courts,  and  proved  faithful  to  Jehovah  to  the 
end. 

The  New  Testament  endorses  the  inspiration 
of  the  book  with  these  words  :  —  ^^  When  ye 
therefore  shall  see  the  desolation  spoken  of  by 
Daniel  the  Prophet  stand  in  the  Holy  Place, 
whoso  readeth  let  him  understand. '^ 

We  cannot  resist  the  pleasure  of  making 
special  reference  to  the  arithmetic  of  Daniel's 
heavenly  visitor.  On  one  occasion  the  Apostle 
Peter  inquired,  how  often  he  ought  to 
forgive  his  brother  ?  "  Till  seven  times  ?  '^ 
the  human  expression  for  completeness. 
The  answer  came  back ;  —  "I  say  not  unto 
thee,  until  seven  times,  but  until  seventy 
times  seven.''  Here  then  was  the  Divine  idea 
of  forgiveness  expressed  in  numbers.     Pardon 

124 


DANIEL'S  INSPIRATION. 

to  the  extent  of  seventy  times  seven  expressed 
the  idea  of  complete  forgiveness.  This  measure 
is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  forbearance  shown 
in  Daniel's  seventy  weeks,  or  490  years.  Such 
standards  are  Heavenly,  not  human.  They 
come  ONLY  from  above. 

The  Book  of  Daniel  shows  that  his  proph- 
ecies had  distinct  and  well-defined  limits.  He 
started  with  b.  c.  520  and  unrolled  the  scroll 
of  time  as  far  as  a.  d.  70.  Like  Moses  and 
the  Prophets,  he  pointed  to  the  setting  up  of 
Messiah's  kingdom  and  stopped  there.  His 
celebrated  period  of  70  weeks  would  have  lacked 
precision,  if  it  had  passed  over  the  mission  of 
him  who  was  "  more  than  a  prophet,"  of  whom 
it  was  written,  "  Behold  I  send  my  messenger 
before  thy  face,  who  shall  prepare  thy  way 
before  thee.'^  Malachi,  the  last  of  the  prophets, 
pointed  to  John  the  Baptist,  but  Daniel  pointed 
to  the  very  week  in  which  John's  great  mis- 
sion would  have  its  rise  and  fall.  John  himself 
125 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

testified,  "  T  am  not  the  Christ,  but  am  sent 
before  him.  He  must  increase,  but  I  must 
decrease.^'  When  his  week  came  to  an  end, 
then  it  Avas  that  our  Lord's  disciples  "  went 
everywhere  preaching  the  Word,''  and  Christian 
History  completes  the  record  to  date. 

It  is  a  grave  mistake  for  one  to  imagine,  that 
the  interval  between  Darius  and  the  Fall  of 
Jerusalem  was  an  unchangeable  period.  The 
experience  of  King  Hezekiah  teaches  us,  that 
at  the  time  of  his  affliction  the  Lord  "  brought 
the  shadow  ten  degrees  backward,  by  which 
it  had  gone  down  on  the  dial  of  Ahaz,"  and 
ADDED  15  YEARS  unto  his  days.  Our  re- 
searches therefore  Avould  not  be  complete  if 
we  failed  to  contemplate  the  case  of  Jerusa- 
lem's affliction  from  a  like  stand-point.  It  is 
very  significant  that  our  Lord,  after  referring 
to  the  sign  of  coming  doom  given  by  Daniel 
the  Prophet,  immediately  adds  :  "  and  except 
those  days  should  be  shortened,  there  should 

126 


DANIEL'S  INSPIRATION, 
no  flesh  be  saved :    but   for  the  elects'  sake 

THOSE  DAYS  SHALL  BE  SHORTENED." 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is,  the  interval 
between  Darius  and  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem  was 
subject  to  the  decision  of  our  Lord,  to  whom 
had  been  "committed  all  judgment/'  and  he 
saw  fit  to  reduce  the  595  years  to  590.  In  a 
word  he  shortened  the  time  five  years. 

Thus  the  mystery  of  Daniel  is  solved  by  the 
prophecy  of  our  Lord,  and  since  the  Son  of 
God  alone  could  accomplish  this  marvellous 
change,  we  learn  that  the  book  of  Daniel 
shines  in  a  new  light  and  witnesses  to  the 
great  fact  that  the  "  Anointed  One  "  was  both 
Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man. 


127 


DANIEL'S    PROPHECIES, 

WITH 

INTERPRETATION. 


VISION  Xo.  I.  — Chapter  vii. 

1.  In  the  first  year  of  Belshazzar  king  of 
Babylon,  —  b.  c.  541  —  Daniel  had  a  dream 
and  visions  of  his  head  upon  his  bed ;  then  he 
MTote  the  dream,  and  told  the  sum  of  the 
matters. 

2.  Daniel  spake  and  said,  I  saw  in  my  vision 
by  night,  and  behold  the  4  winds  of  heaven 
strove  upon  the  great  sea. 

—  AVorld-wide  subject. 

3.  And  4  great  beasts  came  up  from  the  sea 
diverse  one  from  another. 

—  4  powerful  dynasties. 

4.  The  first  was  like  a  lion  and  had  eagle's 
wings Medo-Persian  Empire,  —  And  I  be- 
held   until    the    wings    thereof    were    plucked 

—  Persia   defeated    by   Greece   at    Marathon 

—  B.C.  490 — and  it  was  lifted  up  from  the 

131 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

earth,  and  made  to  stand  upon  the  feet  as  a 
man,  and  a  man's  heart  was  given  unto  it. 
—  Was  transformed  by  Greek  art  and  civiliza- 
tion. 

5.  And  behold  another  beast,  a  second,  like 
to  a  BEAR, —  The  Hellenes,  or  Greece  and  her 
colonies  in  their  palmy  days,  —  and  it  raised 
up  itself  on  one  side — faced  in  the  direction 
of  Persia  —  and  it  had  3  ribs  in  the  mouth 
of  it,  between  the  teeth  of  it ; —  3  columns  of 
strength,  viz.  :  Athens,  Sparta  and  Thebes. 
The  vision  made  its  appearance,  21  years 
before  the  Alliance  Avas  formed.  The  rib& 
therefore,  had  not  knit  in  place  when  the 
heavenly  visitor  made  known  the  fact  of  their 
future  union.  The  Alliance  lasted  93  years, 
beginning  B.  c.  520  and  ending  B.  c.  427. — 
Thuc.  III.  69  —  and  they  said  thus  unto  it, 
Arise,  devour  much  flesh — destroy  hundreds 
of     thousands     in     your    Persian    and    civil 

wars. 

132 


VISION  NO.  I. 

6.  After  this  I  beheld,  and  lo  another,  like 
a  LEOPARD  which  had  upon  the  back  of  it  4 
wingf?  of  a  fowl,  —  quick  to  spring,  swift  of 
flight.  Philip  king  of  Macedon  B.  c.  338 
subjugated  the  disunited  Greek  States  at  the 
battle  of  Chaeronea  —  the  beast  had  also  4 
heads — Alexander  the  Great  b.  c.  336  con- 
quered a  kingdom  which  extended  from  Greece 
to  the  Ganges  of  India.  His  four  generals 
were  named  Antigonus,  Seleucus,  Ptolemy  and 
Cassander  —  and  dominion  was  given  to  it.  — 
Alexander  was  carried  off  by  intemperance  and 
left  no  successor.  The  4  generals  took  the 
kingdom. 

7.  After  this  I  saw  in  the  night  visions,  and 
behold  a  fourth  beast,  dreadful  and  terrible 
—  ROMAN  EMPIRE — and  stroug  exceedingly; 
and  it  had  great  iron  teeth ;  it  devoured  and 
brake  in  pieces  and  stamped  the  residue  with 
the  feet  of  it,  and  it  was  diverse — a  republic, 
not  a  kingdom  —  from  all  the  beasts  that  were 

133 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

before  it ;  and  it  had  10  horns —    1.  Marius. 

2.  Sylla.  5.  Julius  Cesar.      8.  Octavius 

3.  Pompey.        6.  Brutus.  9.  Antony. 

4.  Crassus.         7.  Cassius.  10.  Lepidus. 

8.  I  considered  the  horns,  and  behold  there 
came  up  among  them  another  little  horn  _ 
Augustus  Cesar  —  before  whom  there  were  3 

of  the  first  horns  plucked  up  by  the  roots 

The  Triumvirate  ended  with  battle  Artiuni, 
Sept.  3,  B.  c.  31  —  and  behold  in  this  horn 
were  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  man  —  Augustus 
took  3  censuses  of  the  Roman  Empire  and 
had  the  most  intimate  knowledge  of  all  its 
resources,  the  last  one  was  found  in  his 
own  handwriting — and  a  mouth  speaking 
great  things.  —  He  was  accorded  Divine 
honors. 

9.  I  beheld  till  the  thrones  were  cast  down 
—  Rome  became  all-powerful—  and  the  Ancient 
of  Days  did  sit,  whose  garment  was  white  as 
snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  ])ure 

134 


VISION  NO.  I. 

wool ;  liis  throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and 
his  wheels  as  burning  fire. 

10.  A  fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth 
from  before  him ;  thousand  thousands  minis- 
tered unto  him  and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thou- 
sand stood  before  him ;  the  judgment  was  set, 
and  the  books  were  opened. — Divine  forbearance 
had  reached  its  limit,  the  voice  of  the  prophets 
went  unheeded,  and  the  desolation  spoken 
of  by  Moses  was  about  to  fall  on  the  Jews. 

11.  I  beheld  then,  because  of  the  great 
words  which  the  horn  spake ;  —  Rome  also 
would  receive  judgment  for  its  impiety  in  due 
time. — I  beheld  even  till  the  beast  was  slain, 
and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given  to  the  l)urn- 
ing  flame. 

12.  As  concerning  the  rest  of  the  beasts, 
they  had  their  dominion  taken  away  :  yet  their 
lives  were  prolonged  for  a  season  =  140 
years — and  a  time  =  70  years. —  The  season 
lasted  from  the  1st  of  Belshazzar,  b.  c.  541   to 

135 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

the  battle  of  Cunaxa,  B.C.  401,  at  which  the 
Persians  lost  their  dominion.  But  their  lives 
were  prolonged  70  years,  until  b.  c.  331,  when 
Alexander  desolated  Babylon  as  foretold  in 
Jer.  XXV.  11,  12. 

13.  I  saw  in  the  night  visions,  and,  behold 
one  like  the  Son  of  Man  —  Messiah  —  came 
with  the  clouds  of  heaven — "And  a  cloud 
received  him  out  of  their  sight,"  Acts  i,  9 — 
and  came  to  the  Ancient  of  Days,  and  they 
brought  him  near  before  him.     Acts  7,  5-5. 

14.  And  there  was  given  him  dominion,  and 
glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations 
and  languages,  should  serve  him  ;  his  dominion 
is  an  everlasting  dominion,  Avhich  shall  not 
pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  shall 
not  be  destroyed.     Isa.  9,  6  and  7o 

15.  I  Daniel  was  grieved  in  my  spirit  in 
the  midst  of  my  body,  and  the  visions  of  my 
head  troubled  me. 

16.  I  came  near  unto  one  of  them  that  stood 

136 


"A   SEASON   AND   A   TIME.'' 


Graphic  Exhibit. 


First  year  of  Belshazzar 

B.  c.  541 

Cyrus  planning  to 

capture  Babylon. 

^ 

L 

Sabbatic  year. 

Cyrus  made  king  of  Babylon 

Dflrins  mfldp  kine'  of  Pprtjifl 

nptnhpr  a    T!  r    ."SSfi 

...     Anril  r  r.    .^21 

Peace  on  earth b.  c.  520 

"A  SEASON  "  = 

140  Ye 

IPS. 

)an.  7, 12. 

The  peace  of  Kimon b.  c.  450 

The  30  years  Peace b.  c.  445 

Persian  decay.    Battle  of  Cunaxa. 
Egypt  declared  independence. 

^ 

^. R   r.  401 

Last  ot  the  old  Prophets.^ 

i.                Sabbatic  year. 

"A  TIME"  = 

70  Years 

}'r.  25,  11,  12. 

Phoeuicean  decay  :— 

Sidon  destroyed  b.  c.  354 

Tyre           "             "331 

— Isa.  23,  15,  17.— 

Battle  of  Arbela. 

A 

r 

Overthrow  of  Persia.    Downfall  of  Babylon. 
137 


October  1,  b.  c.  331 
Sabbatic  year. 


VISION  NO.  I. 

by,  and  a^ked  him  the  truth  of  all  this.  So  he 
told  me,  and  made  me  know  the  interpretation 
of  the  things. 

17.  These  great  beasts,  which  are  four,  are  4 
kings  —  Dynasties  or  kingdoms  —  Avhich  shall 
arise  out  of  —  upon  — the  earth. 

18.  But  the  saints  of  the  Most  Higli  shall 
take  the  kingdom,  and  possess  the  kingdom 
forever  and  ever.  —  Spiritual  kingdom  of  the 
Messiah. 

19.  Then  I  would  know  the  truth  of  the 
4th  beast,  which  was  div^erse  from  ail  the 
others  —  The  Roman  Empire  —  exceeding 
dreadful,  whose  teeth  were  of  iron,  and  his 
nails  of  brass ;  which  devoured,  brake  in 
piecas,  and  stamped  the  residue  with  his  feet. 

20.  And  of  the  10  horns  that  were  in  his 
head,  —  The  rulers,  following  the  Jugurthine 
War  —  and  of  the  other  which  came  up  and 
before  Avhom  three  fell;  —  Augustus  Cesar, 
THE    PRINCE    who    cast    down    the    Trium- 

139 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

virate — even  of  that  horn  that  had  eyes, 
and  a  mouth  that  spake  very  great  things, 
whose  look  was  more  stout  than  his  fel- 
lows. —  Suetonius,  Aug.  xvi. 

21.  I  beheld  and  the  same  horn  made  war 
with  the  saints  and  prevailed  against  them ; 
—  Nero,  the  descendant  of  Augustus,  began 
the  first  persecution  in  A.  d.  65. 

22.  Until  the  Ancient  of  Days  came,  and 
judgment  was  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High ;  and  the  time  came  that  the  saints  pos- 
sessed the  kingdom.  —  a.  d.  70. 

23.  Thus  he  said,  the  4th  beast  shall  be 
the  4th  kingdom  upon  earth,  which  shall  be 
diverse  from  all  kingdoms  and  shall  devour 
the  whole  earth,  —  The  Roman  Empire  was 
world-wide — and  shall  tread  it  down  and 
break  it  in  pieces. 

24.  And  the  10  horns  out  of  this  kingdom 
are  10  kings  that  shall  arise;  — 10  Rulers  — 
and  another  shall  rise  after  them  —  Augustus 

140 


VISION  NO.  I. 

Cesar,  the  prince — and  he  shall  be  diverse 
from  the  first,  and  he  shall  subdue  3  kings — 
Put  an  end  to  the  Triumvirate. — Livy  cxxxu. 

25.  And  he — his  descendants  like  Caligula 
and  Nero — shall  speak  great  words  against 
the  Most  High,  and  think  to  change  times  and 
laws;  and  they  shall  be  given  into  his  hand 
until  a  TIME  =  70  years — and  times  =490 
years — and  the  dividing  of  time  =35  years. 
— Total  595  years b.  c.  520  to  a.  d.  75. 

The  War,  threatened  in  a.d.  40,  finally 
broke  out  in  A.  d.  66  and  would  have  lasted 
9  years,  had  not  our  Lord  in  compassion 
"  shortened  those  days  '^  by  five,  so  that  Jeru- 
salem was  taken  a.  d.  70.  Josephus  gives  a 
vivid  account  of  how  the  warring  factions 
within  the  city,  wantonly  destroyed  a  stock  of 
"  corn  and  all  other  provisions,  sufficient  for  a 
siege  of  many  years,^'  and  thus  "  cut  off  the 
nerves  of  their  own  power.''     see  page  hs. 

26.  But  the   judgment  shall  sit,  and  they 

141 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

sliall  take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume  and 
to  destroy  it  unto  the  end. 

27.  And  the  kingdom  and  the  dominion, 
and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  —  of  the 
Messiah  —  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be 
given  to  the  people  of  tlie  saints  of  the  Most 
High,  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  king- 
dom, and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and  obey 
him. 

28.  Hitherto  is  the  end  of  the  matter.  As 
for  me  Daniel,  my  cogitations  much  troubled 
me,  and  my  countenance  changed  in  me  :  Init 
I  kept  the  matter  in  my  heart. 

[There  was  an  interval  of  two  years,  between 
Visions  No.  1  and  No.  2.] 


]42 


TIME,  TIMES   AND   A   HALF/^ 


Graphic  Exhibit. 


Promise  of  a  Blessing,  Zech. 

1,3. 

October,  b.  c.  520 

AU.arsetup.    Burnt             ^ 
offerings 
Ezra  3,  6. 

Sabbatic  year. 

"  TIiME 

H 

70  years. 

1 
"Commandment  to  ")           y 

Dan.  9,  25.    j 

I 

I. 

Sabbatic  year. 

"TIMES"    ^ 

490  y 

ears=> 

"Seventy  Weeks." 

VVar  threatened  in  Spring. 
Matt.  24.  6. 

T 

Autumn  a.  d,  40 

"HALF  TIME 

V 

35  years. 

"TIME  OF  THE  END."                 | 

Jerusalem  taken. 


•'Davs  shortened."  ^ 

Matt.  24,  22. 


^  September  3d  a.  d.  70 

SHORTENED  5  years. 
I 
^    Autumn  k.  d.  75 


143 


VISION  No.  II.— Chapter  viii. 

1.  Ix  the  third  year  of  the  reign  of  king 
Belshazzar-— B.  c.  539  —  a  vision  appeared 
unto  me  Daniel,  after  that  which  appeared 
unto  me  at  the  first.  —  T  ision  No.  1 . 

2.  And  I  saw  in  a  vision ;  and  it  came  to 
pass,  when  I  saw,  that  I  was  at  Shushan  in 
the  palace,  which  is  in  the  province  of  Elam 
—  The  country  of  the  Elamites  bordering  the 
Persian  Gulf  was  called  Anzan,  and  of  it 
Cyrus  was  the  king  —  and  I  was  by  the  river 
of  Ulai. 

3.  Then  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw, 
and,  behold,  there  stood  before  the  river  a 
RAM  which  had  two  horns: — the  Medo-Per- 
sian  Empire  —  and  the  two  horns  were  high ; 
but  one  —  Persia  —  was  higher  than  the  other, 
. —  Media  —  and  the  higher  came  up  last. 

145 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

4.  I  saw  the  ram  jjushing  westward,  and 
northward  and  southward  —  The  Medo-Per- 
sian  Empire  embraced  all  the  civilized  nations 
of  Asia  — ^"SO  that  no  beast  might  stand  before 
him^  neitlier  was  tliere  any  that  could  deliver 
out  of  his  hand ;  but  he  —  Cyrus,  and  his 
descendants  and  next  of  kin— did  according 
to  his  will,  and  became  great. 

5.  And  as  I  Avas  considering,  behold  a  he- 
cw)AT  —  The  Hellenes  (Greece  and  her  colonies) 
—  came  from  the  West  on  the  face  of  the  whole 
earth,  and  touched  not  the  ground ;  and  the 
goat  had  a  notable  liorn  between  his  eyes. 

6.  And  he  came  to  the  ram  that  had  t^vo 
horns,  which  I  had  seen  standing  before  the 
river  and  ran  unto  him  in  the  fury  of 
his  power  _  Battles  of  Marathon  b.  c.  490, 
Salamis  and  Plataea  B.  c.  480  and  479. 

7.  And  I  saw  him  —  Alexander  the  Great, 
after  Greece  was  conquered  by  the  Macedo- 
nians B.  c.  334 — come  close  unto   the   ram — . 

]4() 


VISION  NO.  XL 

Battles  of  Granicus  and  Issus.  —  and  he  wavS 
moved  with  choler  against  him,  and  smote  the 
ram,  and  brake  his  two  horns,  and  there  was 
no  power  in  the  ram  to  stand  before  him ; — 

—  Alexander  was  greatly  pleased  when  shown 
this  prophecy  —  Josephus  11.  8.  5. —  but  he 
cast  him  down  to  the  ground  and  stamped 
upon  him,  and  there  was  none  that  could 
deliver  the  ram  out  of  his  hand. —  B.C.  331 
Alexander  defeated  the  Persians  on  the  plain 
of  Babylon.  He  then  pushed  on  to  India 
and  conquered  the  Punjaub,  land  of  the  5 
rivers. 

8.  Therefore  the  he-goat  waxed  very  great : 

—  Alexander  the  Great  also  conquered  Egypt, 
Palestine,  Phoenicia  and  Tyre.  He  built  Alex- 
andria and  ruled  from  Greece  to  the  Ganges.  — 
and  when  lie  was  strong,  the  great  horn  was 
broken  ;  —  Alexander  died  in  India  of  intem- 
perance and  left  no  successor.  —  and  for  it  came 
up  four  notable  ones  toward  the  4  winds  of 

147 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

heaven,  —  Alexander's  kingdom   fell  to    his  4 
generals  : 

Antigonus  took  Persia, 
SeleucQs  took  Syria, 
Ptolemy  took  Egypt, 
Cassander  took  Macedon. 

9.  And  out  of  one  of  them  —  Seleucus — 
came  forth  a  little  horn  —  kingdom  of  the 
Seleucidae  — which  waxed  exceeding  great, 
toward  the  south  —  Egypt — toward  the  east 
— between  the  Hellespont  and  the  Indus — 
and  toward  the  pleasant  land. — Palestine. 

10.  And  it  waxed  great — under  Antiochus 
III,  the  Great — even  to  the  host  of  heaven  ;  — 
the  Jewish  nation — and  it  cast  down  some  of 
the  host  and  of  the  stars  to  the  ground, — 
Judah  and  Benjamin  —  and  stamped  upon 
them. 

11.  Yea  it — under  .King  Antiochus  Epi- 
plianes — magnified  itself,  even  to  the  Prince  of 

148 


VISION  NO.  II. 

the  host ;  — Judah,  and  the  capital  city  Jemsa- 
leni—  and  it  took  away  from  him  the  continual 
burnt  offering,  and  the  place  of  his  Sanctuary 
was  cast  down. 

12.  And  the  host  was  given  over  to  it 
together  with  the  continual  burnt  offering 
through  transgression ; — Antiochus  also  set  up 
heathen  altars  in  every  village  and  town,  on 
which  the  Jews  were  obliged  to  sacrifice 
swine^s  flesh  daily— and  it  cast  down  the  truth 
to  the  ground,  and  it  did  its  pleasure  and  pros- 
pered. 

13.  Then  I  heard  one  saint  speaking  and 
another  saint  said  unto  that  certain  saint  which 
spake : — 

"  How  long  shall  be  the  vision  concerning 
the  daily  sacrifice  and  the  transgression  of 
desolation,  to  give  both  the  Sanctuary  and 
the  host — the  National  government — to 
be  trodden  under  foot  ? '' 
149 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

14.  And  he  said  unto  me,  unto  2300  days. 
Then  shall  the  Sanctuary  be  cleansed. —  Since 
one  prophetic  day  equals  49  ordinary  days, 
2300  DAYS  will  equal  112700  ordinary  days. 
[Total,  308  years,  6  months,  21  days.]  This 
period  covered  the  interval,  between  the 
starting-point  of  the  Seventy  Weeks,  [October 
14th  B.  c.  450]  and  the  National  day  of  re- 
joicing, when  the  Temple  was  cleansed  by 
Simon  Maccabeus.     [May  4th  B.C.  141.] 

15.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  I,  even  I 
Daniel,  had  seen  the  vision  and  sought  for  the 
meaning,  then,  behold,  there  stood  before  me 
as  the  appearance  of  a  man. 

16.  And  I  heard  a  man's  voice  between  the 
banks  of  Ulai,  which  called,  and  said,  Grabriel, 
make  this  man  to  understand  the  vision  ! 

17.  So  he  came  near  where  I  stood:  and 
when  he  came,  I  was  afraid  and  fell  upon  my 
face :  but  he  said  unto  me.  Understand  O 
son    of    man  :    for    at    the   time    of    the    end 

150 


days;' 


Graphic  Exhibit. 
'Commandmeut,  October  14,  b,  c,  450. 


to  restore  and  huild  "        ■' 

i 

Sabbatic  year. 

23 

30 

DAYS. 

"  Temple  cleansed  " 
National            ^ 

r 

^May  4,    B.C.    141. 

Independence  Day    - 

A 

1290 

DAYS. 

"THAT  GREAT  AND  NOTABLE 
DAY  OF  THE  LORD." 
"  PFKTTrnnsT  " 

y 

7 

«,Mav  21,   A.D.    33. 

A 

45 

1 

DAYS[= 

1335  less  12'J0]. 

Holy  Spirit  bestowed 

i     1 

'  on  the  (Jentiles  also." 


June  7,  A.D.  39. 


lol 


VISION  NO.  II. 

before    A.  d.  70    and    long    after    the    current 
date  B.  o.  539  —  shall  be  the  vision. 

18.  Now  as  he  was  speaking  Avith  me,  I 
was  in  a  deep  sleep  on  my  face  toward  the 
ground :  but  he  touched  me,  and  set  me 
upright. 

19.  And  he  said,  Behold,  I  will  make  thee 
know  what  shall  be  the  last  end  of  the  in- 
dignation : —  I.  6.^  the  time  when  God's  for- 
bearance would  be  exhausted — for  at  the 
time  appointed  the  end  shall  be. —  viz.: 
A.D.   70. 

20.  The  ram  which  thou  sawest  having  two 
horns  are  the  kings  of  Media  and  Persia. 

21.  And  the  rough  goat  is  the  king  of 
Grecia ;  and  the  great  horn  that  is  between  his 
eyes  is  the  first  king.  —  Alexander  the  Great 
who  united  Greece  and  Macedon. 

22.  Now  that  being  broken  —  death  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great  —  whereas  4  stood  up  for  it,  — 
tjie  4  generals  of  Alexander  —  4  kingdoms  shall 

153 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

stand  up  out  of  the  nation,  but  not  in  his  power. 
—  the  4  nations  would  be  independent  of 
each  other  and  not  united  as  in  the  days  of 
Alexander. 

23.  In  the  latter  time  of  their  kingdom  when 
the  transgressors — the  Jewish  people — are 
come  to  the  full,  a  king  of  fierce  countenance, 
and  understanding  dark  sentences  shall  stand 
up — Antiochus  iii,  the  Great,  who  sul)ju- 
gated  Judea  and  greatly  oppressed  the  Jewish 
people.  His  times  were  noted  for  corruption 
and  crime. 

24.  And  his  power  shall  be  mighty,  but  not 
by  his  own  poAver :  and  he  shall  destroy 
wonderfully,  and  shall  prosper  and  practise, 
and  shall  destroy  the  mighty  and  the  holy 
people. 

25.  And  through  his  policy  also  he  shall 
cause  craft  to  prosper  in  his  hand  and  he  shall 
magnify  himself  in  his  heart,  and  ])y  peace 
shall   destroy   many; — luxury  prevailed   and 

154 


VISION  NO.  II. 

corruption  was  rampant.  —  he  shall  also  stand 
up  against  the  Prince  of  Princes ;  —  The 
Roman  Empire  had  no  kings  and  therefore 
its  rulers  were  spoken  of  as  Princes.  It  was 
a  favorite  term  for  a  King  to  designate  himself 
as  King  of  Kings.  The  same  thought  could 
be  expressed  among  the  Romans  by  the  words  ; 
—  PRINCE  OF  PRINCES  —  But  he  shall  be 
broken  without  hand Antiochus  iii^  har- 
bored Hannibal  the  deadly  enemy  of  the 
Romans.  The  Romans  vanquished  Antiochus, 
who  purchased  peace  by  large  sums  of  money 
and  the  cession  of  Western  Asia.  Antiochus 
died  from  intemperance. 

26.  And  the  vision  of  the  evening  and  the 
morning  which  was  told  is  true :  —  Fullv  ex- 
plained in  Daniel's  Chap.  xi.  — wherefore  shut 
thou  up  the  vision :  for  it  shall  be  for  many 
days. 

27.  And  I  Daniel  fainted,  and  was  sick  cer- 
tain days ;  afterward   I  rose  up,  and  did  the 

155 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

king's  business :  and  I  was  astonished  at  the 
vision,  but  none  understood  it. 

[There  was  an  interval  of  5  years  between 
Visions  No.  2  and  No.  3.] 


156 


VISION  No.  III.  —  Chaps,  x.  and  xii. 

1.  In  the  third  year  of  Cyrus  king  of  Persia 
—  B.  c.  534  — a  thing  was  revealed  unto  Daniel, 
whose  name  was  called  Belteshazzar ;  — -  The 
coming  of  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the 
Messiah — and  the  thing  was  true,  but 
the  time  appointed  was  long;  —  far  distant, 
A.  D.  33  to  40  —  and  he  understood  the  thing, 
and  had  understanding  of  the  vision. 

2.  In  those  days  I  Daniel  was  mourning 
three  full  weeks.  —  March  10  to  31. 

3.  I  ate  no  pleasant  bread,  neither  came 
flesh  nor  wine  in  my  mouth,  neither  did  I 
anoint  myself  at  all,  till  three  whole  weeks 
were  fulfilled. 

4.  And  in  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the 
first  month,  as  I  was  by  the  side  of  the  great 
river,  which  is  Hiddekel ;  —  The  Tigris. 

157 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

5.  Then  I  lifted  up  my  eyes,  and  looked  and 
behold  a  certain  man  clothed  in  linen,  whose 
loins  were  girded  with  the  fine  gold  of  Upliaz  : 
—  Ophir. 

6.  His  body  also  was  like  the  beryl,  and  his 
face  as  the  appearance  of  lightning,  and  his 
eyes  as  lamps  of  fire,  and  his  arms  and  his  feet 
like  in  color  to  polished  brass,  and  the  voice  of 
his  words  like  the  voice  of  a  multitude. 

7.  And  I  Daniel  alone  saw  the  vision  for 
the  men  that  were  with  me  saw  not  the  vision ; 
but  a  great  quaking  fell  upon  them,  so  that 
they  fled  to  hide  themselves. 

8.  Therefore  I  was  left  alone,  and  saw  this 
great  vision,  and  there  remained  no  strength  in 
me :  for  my  comeliness  was  turned  in  lue  into 
corruption,  and  I  retained  no  strength. 

9.  Yet  heard  I  the  voice  of  his  words :  and 
when  I  heard  the  voice  of  his  words,  then  was 
I  in  a  deep  sleep  on  my  face,  and  my  face 
toward  the  ground. 

158 


VISION  KO.  III. 

10.  And,  behold,  a  hand  touched  me,  which 
set  me  upon  my  knees  and  upon  the  palms  of 
my  hands. 

11.  And  he  said  unto  me,  O  Daniel,  a  man 
greatly  beloved,  understand  the  words  that  I 
speak  unto  thee,  and  stand  upright ;  for  unto 
thee  am  I  now  sent.  And  Avhen  he  had 
spoken  this  word  unto  me,  I  stood  trem- 
bling. 

12.  Then  said  he  unto  me.  Fear  not  Daniel  ; 
for  from  the  first  day  that  thou  didst  set  thine 
heart  to  understand,  and  to  chasten  thyself  be- 
fore thy  God,  thy  words  were  heard,  and  I  am 
come  for  thy  words. 

13.  But  the  prince  of  the  kingdom  of  Persia 
withstood  me  one  and  twenty  days ;  but,  lo, 
IMichael,  one  of  the  chief  princes,  came  to  help 
me ;  and  I  remained  there  with  the  kings  of 
Persia. —  with  Cyrus  and  Cambyses,  B.  c.  534. 

14.  Now  I  am  come  to  make  thee  under- 
istand  what  shall  befall  thy  people  in  the  latter 

159 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

days  :  —A.  D.    33   to   a.  d.   70.  —  for  yet   the 
vision  is  for  many  days. 

15.  And  when  he  had  spoken  such  words 
unto  me,  I  set  my  face  toward  the  ground, 
and  I  became  dumb. 

16.  And,  behold,  one  like  the  similitude  of 
the  sons  of  men  touched  my  lips ;  then  I 
opened  my  mouth,  and  spake,  and  said  unto 
him  that  stood  before  me,  O  my  lord,  by  the 
vision  my  sorrows  are  turned  upon  me,  and  I 
have  retained  no  strength. 

17.  For  how  can  the  servant  of  this  my 
lord  talk  with  this  my  lord?  for  as  for  me, 
straightway  there  remained  no  strength  in 
me,  neither  is  there  breath  left  in  me. 

18.  Then  there  came  again  and  touched  me 
one  like  the  appearance  of  a  man,  and  he 
strengthened  me. 

19.  And  said,  O  man  greatly  beloved,  fear 
not :  peace  be  unto  thee ;  be  strong,  yea,  be 
strong.     And  Avhen  he  had  spoken  unto  me^  I 

160 


VISION  KO.  III. 

was  strengthened,  and  said,  Let  my  lord  speak ; 
for  thou  hast  strengthened  me. 

20.  Then  said  he,  Knowest  thou  wherefore 
I  come  unto  thee?  and  now  will  I  return  to 
fight  with  the  prince  of  Persia  :  and  when  I  am 
gone  forth,  lo,  the  prince  of  Grecia  shdl  come. 

21.  But  I  will  show  thee  that  which  is  noted 
in  the  Scripture  of  truth  ;  and  there  is  none  that 
holdeth  with  me  in  these  things,  but  Michael 
your  prince. 

1.  And  at  that  time  —  the  Time  of  the  End 
—  shall  Michael  stand  up,  the  great  prince 
which  standeth  for  the  children  of  thy  people : 
and  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  —  The 
siege  of  Jerusalem —  such  as  never  was  since 
there  was  a  nation,  even  to  that  same  time : 
and  at  that  time  —  the  End  of  the  Days, 
the  day  of  Judgment  — thy  people  shall  be 
delivered,  every  one  that  shall  be  found  written 
in  the  book. 

2.  And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust 

161 


DANIEL'S  PKOPHECIES. 

of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting 
life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt. —  Daniel  was  the  first  prophet,  who 
clearly  indicated  that  there  would  be  a  final 
Judgment  day. 

3.  And  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament;  and  they  that 
turn  many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  for- 
ever and  ever. 

4.  But  thou,  O  Daniel,  shut  up  the  words, 
and  seal  the  book,  even  to  the  time  of  the 
end;  —  a.  d.  70  —  many  shall  run  to  and  fro, 
and  knowledge  shall  be  increased. 

5.  Then  I  Daniel  looked,  and,  behold,  there 
stood  other  two,  the  one  on  this  side  of  the 
bank  of  the  river —  the  Tigris  —  and  the  other 
on  that  side  of  the  bank  of  the  river. 

6.  And  one  said  to  the  man  clothed  in  linen, 
'\vhich  was  upon  the  waters  of  the  river.  How 
long  shall  it  be  to  the  end  of  these  wonders  ? 
—  1st,  to  the  Time  of   the  End ;  and  2d,  to 

162 


VISION  NO.  III. 

the  End  of  the  Days,  the  day  of  Judg- 
ment ? 

7.  And  I  heard  the  man  clothed  in  linen, 
which  was  upon  the  waters  of  the  river,  when 
he  held  up  his  right  hand  and  his  left  hand 
unto  heaven,  and  sware  by  him  that  liveth  for- 
ever, that  it  shall  be  for  a  time,=  70  years  — 
TIMES,— 490  years— and  a  half  :=35  years. 

The  DOUBLE  recompense,  or  repeat  of  the 
first  "  indignation  ^^  lasted  70  years  : — b.  c.  520 

to  B.C.  450. — Jer.  IG,  18  ;  Zech.  9, 12  ;  Isa.  40,  2. 

The  490  years,  B.C.  450  to  a.  d.  40  find 
their  counterpart  in  the  seventy  weeks  of 
Dan.  ix.  24. 

The  35  years,  A.  d.  40  to  a.  d.  75  cover  the 
period  intended  for  the  final  desolation,  when 
Titus  would  besiege  Jerusalem  and  scatter  the 
chosen  people,  p.  143 — and  when  he  shall 
have  accomplished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the 
holy  people  —  the  Jewish  nation  —  all  these 
things  shall  be  finished. 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

8.  And  I  heard,  but  I  understood  not :  then 
said  I,  O  my  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  end  of 
these  things  ?  —  How  about  the  end  of  the 
Days,  the  day  of  Judgment? 

9.  And  he  said,  Go  thy  way  Daniel ;  —  one 
thing  at  a  time  ! — for  the  w^ords  are  closed  up 
till  the  time  of  the  end.  —  a.  ix  70  —  However 
I  will  repeat  this  much  regarding  the  End  of 
the  Days. 

10.  Many  shall  be  purified,  and  made  white, 
and  tried ;  but  the  wicked  shall  do  wickedly ; 
and  none  of  the  wicked  shall  understand ;  but 
the  wise  shall  understand. 

11.  And  from  the  time  that  the  daily  sacri- 
fice shall  be  taken  away  and  the  abomination 
that  maketh  desolate  set  up  —  the  sacrifice  of 
swine  and  pollution  of  the  holy  place  b.  c. 
16.S  to  141  — there  shall  be  a  thousand  two 
hundred  and  ninety  days  — B.C.  1G8,  these 
sacrifices  were  ordered  to  be  made  daily,  in 
every  village  and  town  throughout  Palestine. 

164 


VISION  NO.  III. 

The  desecration  of  the  temple  area  lasted  until 
May  4th  b.  c.  141.  Every  moment  of  this 
time  was  part  of  one  great  abomination. 
Counting  each  prophetic  day  as  made  up  of  49 
ordinary  days^  the  1290  days  bring  us  to 
May  24th  a.  d.  33  —  the  day  of  pentecost 

— "  THAT  GREAT  AND  NOTABLE  DAY  OF  THE 

LORD  " — when  the  Holy  Spirit  was  revealed  to 
the  Jews,  and  about  3000  souls  were  converted. 

12.  Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth — the  Gen- 
tiles —  and  cometh  to  the  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  five  and  thirty  days. — -the  Gentiles 
did  wait  for  six  years,  while  the  disciples  were 

busy,  "  PREACHING  THE  WORD  TO  NONE,  BUT 
UNTO    THE    JEWS    ONLY.''      ActS    xi.     19. If 

now  we  make  the  calculation  for  1335  days,  we 
shall  find,  that  the  prophecy  brings  us  direct 
to  June  7th  A.  d.  39  —  on  which  day,  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  revealed  to  the  gentiles. 

13.  But  go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be  :— 
the  day   of   Judgment —  for  thou    shalt   rest, 

.165 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

and  stand  In  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days. 
—  the  day  of  Judgment. 

The  Old  and  the  New  Testament  agree  in 
saying :  "  of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no 
man,  no,  not  the  angels  of  heaven.'^ 

[There  was  an  interval  of  13  years,  between 
Visions  No.  3  .and  No.  4.] 


166 


VISION  No.  IV.  —  Chapters  ix.  and  xi. 

1.  In  the  first  year  of  Darius  the  son  of 
Ahasuerus,  of  the  seed  of  the  Medes,  who  was 
made  king  over  the  realm  of  the  Chaldeans. 

2.  In  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  —  B.  c.  520 
—  I  Daniel  understood  by  Books  —  the  Scrip- 
tures— whereof  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
to  Jeremiah  the  prophet,  that  he  would  accom- 
plish—  occupy  periods  of — seventy  years  in 
the  desolations  of  Jerusalem.  —  First  period, 
B.  c.  590  to  520;  and  the  next  period,  B.  c. 
520  to  450.  The  Babylonish  captivity  ended  16 
years  before  the  present  vision,  and  the  efforts 
of  Zerubbabel  toward  rebuilding  the  Temple 
had  meantime  proved  a  failure. 

3.  And  I  set  my  face  unto  the  Lord  God,  to 
seek  by  prayer  and  supplications,  with  fasting, 
and  sackcloth,  and  ashes  ; 

167 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES 

4.  And  I  prayed  unto  the  Lord  my  God, 
and  made  my  confessions  and  said,  O  Lord,  the 
great  and  dreadful  God,  keeping  the  covenant 
and  mercy  to  them  that  love  him,  and  to  them 
that  keep  his  commandments. 

5.  AVe  have  sinned,  and  have  committed 
iniquity,  and  have  done  wickedly,  and  have 
rebelled,  even  by  departing  from  thy  precepts 
and  from  thy  judgments  : 

6.  Neither  have  ^ve  hearkened  unto  thy 
servants  the  prophets,  which  spake  in  thy 
name  to  our  kings,  and  princes,  and  our 
fathers,  and  to  all  the  people  of  the  land. 

7.  O  Lord,  righteousness  belongeth  unto 
thee,  but  unto  us  confusion  of  faces,  as  at  this 
day ;  to  the  men  of  Judah,  and  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  Jerusalem,  and  unto  all  Israel  that 
are  near,  and  that  are  far  off,  through  all  the 
countries  whither  thou  has  driven  them,  be- 
cause of  their  trespass  that  they  have  tres- 
passed against  thee. 

168 


"YEARS   IN   THE   DESOLATIONS/' 


Graphic  Exhibit. 


Nebuchadnezzar 


October  b.  c.  590 


prepared  for  War. 
r  Israel  cast  off 

Aug.  2,  590 
Siege  began 

Dec.  18,  589 

Temple  burned 

July  19,  586 


Desolation  complete. 
The  First 
70  years  of  Indignation 


.Indignation  ended   __ 

■  Call  to  repentance 

October  520 
Foundation  laid 

Dec.  17,  520 
Earth  at  Peace" 
Feb.  14,  519 
Temple  finished 
Worship  rpnpwpd 
Ezra  6.  14 
The  Second 
70  years  of  Indignation 


^,^.^^"  Commandment   ^  ^_ 
to  restore  and    y 
build"  p.  88      j 

{Hanani's  trip  to 
Babylon,  Nov.  446 
New  Covenant. 
Oct.  445 
'The  30  years  Peace." 


Sabbatic  year. 


4>^  years  Interval 


....February  b.  c.  585 


70  Years  of  Desolation 


October  b.  c.  520 

A  Sabbatic  year. 


4M  years  Interval 


.February  b.  c.  515 


70  Years  of  Desolation 

Jer.  xvi.  18 

Jer.  xxxiii.  11,  12 


October  B.  c.  450 

A  Sabbatic  year. 


4%  years  Interval 


Nehemiah  made  governor 


March  b.  c.  445 


169 


VISION  KO.  IV. 

8.  O  Lord,  to  us  belongeth  confusion  of  face, 
to  our  kings,  to  our  princes,  and  to  our  fathers, 
because  we  have  sinned  against  thee. 

9.  To  the  Lord  our  God  belong  mercies  and 
forgivenesses,  though  we  have  rebelled  against 
him  : 

10.  Neither  have  we  obeyed  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  our  God,  to  walk  In  his  laws,  which  he 
set  before  us  by  his  servants  the  prophets. 

IL  Yea,  all  Israel  have  transgressed  thy  law, 
even  by  departing,  that  they  might  not  obey 
thy  voice ;  therefore  the  curse  Is  poured  upon 
us,  and  the  oath  that  is  written  in  the  law  of 
Moses  the  servant  of  God,  because  we  have 
sinned  against  him. 

12.  And  he  hath  confirmed  his  words,  which 
he  spake  against  us  and  against  our  judges  that 
judged  us,  by  bringing  upon  us  a  great  evil ; 
for  under  the  whole  heaven  hath  not  been  done 
as  hath  been  done  upon  Jerusalem. 

13.  As  it  Is  written  In  the  law  of  Moses,  all 

171 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

this  evil  is  come  upon  us :  yet  made  Ave  not 
our  prayer  before  the  Lord  our  God,  that  we 
might  turn  from  our  iniquities,  and  understand 
thy  truth. 

14.  Therefore  hath  the  Lord  watched  upon 
the  evil,  and  brought  it  upon  us ;  for  the  Lord 
our  God  is  righteous  in  all  his  works  which  he 
doeth ;  for  we  obeyed  not  his  voice. 

15.  And  now,  O  Lord  our  God,  that  hast 
brought  thy  people  out  of  the  land  of  Lgypt 
with  a  mighty  hand,  and  hast  gotten  thee 
renown  as  at  this  day  :  we  have  sinned,  we 
have  done  wickedly. 

16.  O  Lord,  according  to  all  thy  righteous- 
ness, I  beseech  thee,  let  thy  anger  and  thy  fury 
be  turned  away  from  thy  city  Jerusalem,  thy 
holy  mountain  :  because  for  our  sins,  and  for 
the  iniquities  of  our  fathers,  Jerusalem  and  thy 
people  are  become  a  reproach  to  all  that  are 
about  us. 

17.  Now  therefore,    O  our    God,   hear   the 

172 


VISION  NO.  IV. 

prayer  of  thy  servant  and  his  supplications 
and  cause  thy  face  to  shine  upon  thy  Sanctuary 
that  is  desolate,  for  the  Lord's  sake. 

18.  O  my  God,  incline  thine  ear,  and  hear: 
open  thine  eyes,  and  behold  our  desolations,  and 
the  city  which  is  called  by  thy  name  :  for  we 
do  not  present  our  supplications  before  thee  for 
our  righteousness,  but  for  thy  great  mercies. 

19.  O  liord,  hear  :  O  Lord,  forgive ;  O  Lord, 
hearken  and  do  ;  defer  not,  for  thine  own  sake, 
O  my  God  ;  for  thy  city  and  thy  people  are 
v".alled  by  thy  name.  — In  b.  c.  520  the  year  of 
Daniel's  prayer,  Darius  ratified  the  decree  of 
Cyrus,  contributed  generously  to  the  work,  and 
in  B.  c.  515  the  Temple  was  dedicated  anew  to 
the  worship  of  Jehovah. 

20.  And  while  I  was  speaking,  and  praying, 
and  confessing  my  sin  and  the  sin  of  my  people 
Israel,  and  presenting  my  supplications  before 
the  Lord  my  God  for  the  holy  mountain  of  my 
God; 

173 


DANIEL'S  PKOPHECIES. 

21.  Yea,  while  I  was  speaking  in  prayer, 
even  the  man  Gabriel,  whom  I  had  seen  in 
the  vision  at  the  beginning —  Virion  Xo.  2,  in 
B.  c.  539  —  being  caused  to  fly  swiftly,  touched 
me  about  the  time  of  the  evening  oblation. 

22.  And  he  informed  me,  and  talked  with 
me,  and  said,  O  Daniel,  I  am  now  come  forth 
to  give  thee  skill  and  understanding. 

23.  At  the  beginning  of  thy  supphcations 
—  the  prayer  just  narrated  —  the  commandment 
came  forth,  and  I  am  come  to  show  thee ;  for 
thou  art  greatly  beloved  :  therefore  understau.d 
the  matter  and  consider  the  vision. 

Before  considering  the  next  verse,  we  shall 
take  a  general  view  of  the  scope  of  Daniel's 
prophecies,  otherwise  the  twenty-fourth  verse 
may  become  to  us  the  entrance  to  a  veritable 
maze  and  we  might  become  lost  amid  the  intri- 
cacies of  the  way. 

The  revelations  made  to  the  prophet  Daniel 
appear  to  have  had  two  prominent  objects  in 
174 


VISION  NO.  IV. 

view.  The  first  was  essentially  a  political  one 
and  the  second  had  a  distinctly  religious  bear- 
ing, at  the  same  time  both  were  closely  related 
and  mutually  dependent.  That  of  a  political 
character  pointed  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
and  the  scattering  of  the  Jewish  race  among 
the  nations.  Its  starting-point  was  the  year 
B.C.  520  as  explained  on  pages  141  and  163. 

The  religious  portion  related  to  the  coming 
of  Messiah's  kingdom  and  dated  from  B.  c.  450. 
With  regard  to  it,  the  heavenly  visitor  was 
most  explicit,  taking  pains  to  state  the  periods 
both  in  prophetic  days  and  in  Seventy  Weeks. 
The  days  have  been  explained  on  pages  150 
and  165,  while  the  present  chapter  brings  us  to 
the  complementary  statement  regarding  the 
weeks. 

Zerubbabel  who  attempted  to  rebuild  under 

the  decree  of  Cyrus  was  subjected  to  vexatious 

annoyances  as  well  as  injunction,  but  those  who 

worked  under  the  decree  of  Darius  had  smooth 

175 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

sailing.  War  and  neglect  again  brought  the 
sacred  edifice  into  ruin,  but  at  the  end  of 
70  years  came  a  Commandment  to  restore 
and  build.  Again  the  Temple  was  restored 
but  in  far  different  times.  For  these  were 
"  troublous  times ''  when  "  the  builders,  every 
one  had  his  sword  girded  by  his  side.'' 

The  interval  of  70  years,  extending  from 
B.  c.  520  to  B.  c.  450,  forms  in  reality  the  first 
section  of  the  familiar  formula  :  — 

"  A  time  and  times  and  the 
dividing  of  time." 

The  Seventy  Weeks  or  "  Times  ^'  [490  years] 
follows,  and  carries  the  mind  over  to  a.  r>.  40 
when  the  Universal  Gospel  was  proclaimed  to 
both  Jews  and  Gentiles  and  all  the  events  fore- 
told in  verse  twenty-four  were  literally  ful- 
filled. 

24.   Seventy  weeks  are  determined  upon  thy 
people  and  upon  thy  holy  city,  to  finish  the 
176 


^^  SEVENTY   WEEKS.'' 


Graphic  Exhibit. 


'  Commandment, 


Fall  B.  c.  450. 


to  restc 

)re  and  build  " 
i. 

Sabbatic  year. 

7  WEE 

KS  =  49  years 

■ 

7            PERSIA'S  POWER 

__  BATTLE  OF ^  ^.  ^^^ 

i 

s.             BROKEN 

CUNAXA      Sabbatic  year. 

62  WEEKS 

=  434  years 

John  the  Baptist 

Many  accepted         y^^^  ^   ^  ^ 

A 

1 

i 

y 

7          "  nRTTnTFTVTON" 

(      WEEK  OF) 
~\  COVENANT    ^Spring  A.  D.  33. 

1 

(    =7  years    ) 

Great  persecution 

V 

Others  Rejected 

1  WEEK  =  7  years.                        1 

. 

V 

War  threatened  | 

Spring  A.  D.  40. 

War  abandoned  [Matt.  xxiv.  6] 


Fall  A.  D.  40. 


177 


VISION  NO.  IV. 

transgression, — 490  years,  B.C.  450  to  a.  d. 
40  — and  to  make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make 
reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  ever- 
lasting righteousness,  and  to  seal  up  the  vision 
and  prophecy,  and  to  anoint  the  Most  Holy. 

25.  Know  therefore  and  understand,  that 
from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment  to 
restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem,  unto  Messiah, 
the  prince,  shall  be  seven  weeks  =  49  years,  to 
the  weakening  of  Persia's  power — and  three- 
score and  two  weeks ;  the  street  shall  be  built 
again,  and  the  wall,  even  in  troublous  times. 

26.  And  after  threescore  and  two  weeks 
shall  Messiah  be  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself : 
=  62  times  7  =  434  years.  This  extended 
from  B.  c.  401  to  A.  d.  33,  the  year  of  the  Cru- 
cifixion—  and  the  people  of  the  Prince  that 
shall  come  —  the  Romans  —  shall  destroy  the 
city,  and  the  sanctuary ;  and  the  end  thereof 
shall  be  with  a  flood,  and  unto  the  end  of  the 
war  desolations  are  determined. 

179 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

27.  And  he  shall  confirm  the  covenant  with 
many  for  one  Aveek  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
week  —  A.  D.  3'^ — he  shall  cause  the  sacrifice 
and  oblation  to  cease — the  atonement 
WOULD  BE  A  PERFECT  ONE,  rendering  all 
future  sacrifices  unnecessary  —  and  for  the 
overspreading  of  abominations  he  shall  make 
it  —  Jeriif^alem — desolate  even  until  the  con- 
summation, —  its  entire  destruction  —  and  that 
determined  shall  be  poured  upon  the  deso- 
late. 

1.  Also  I  — GABRIEL  —  in  the  first  year  of 
Darius  the  Mede,  even  I,  stood  to  confirm  and 
to  strengthen  him. 

2.  And   now  I  will    show  thee  the  truth. 

—  of  the  vision  of  the  evening  and  the  morn- 
ing, l)an.  viii.  26  — Behold  there  shall  stand 
up  yet  —  after  the  setting  up  of  tlie  Sanctuary 
iind  the  host,  B.  c.  445.  —  three  kings  in  Persia 

—  Xerxes  ii,  Sogdianus  and  Darius  Nothus  — 
and  the  fourth  —  I>aniis  Codomannus — shall 

180 


-      VISION  NO.  IV. 

be  far  richer  than  they  all :  and  by  his  strength 
and  through  his  riches  he  shall  stir  up  all 
against  the  realm  of  Grecia. 

3.  And  a  mighty  king  —  Alexander  the 
Great  —  shall  stand  up,  that  shall  rule  with 
great  dominion,  and  do  according  to  his  will. 
—  from  Greece  to  India. 

4.  And  when  he  shall  stand  up  his  kingdom 
shall  be  broken,  and  shall  be  divided  toward 
the  four  winds  of  heaven ;  —  among  his  four 
generals  ;  —  and  not  to  his  posterity,  nor 
according  to  his  dominion  which  he  ruled :  for 
his  kingdom  shall  be  plucked  up,  even  for 
others  beside  those. 

5.  And  the  king  of  the  south  —  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus,  king  of  Egypt  —  shall  be  strong, 
and  one  of  his  princes ;  and  he  shall  be  strong 
above  him  —  Antiochus  ii  —  and  have  domin- 
ion ;  his  dominion  shall  be  a  great  dominion. 

6.  And  in  the  end  of  the  years  —  in  the 
course  of  time  — •  they  shall  join  themselves  to- 

]81 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

gether;  for  the  king\s  daughter  —  Berniee  — 
of  the  south  shall  come  to  the  king  of  the  north 
to  make  an  agreement :  —  Antiochus  banished 
his  own  wife  Laodice  and  her  children  in  favor 
of  Berniee  —  but  she  shall  not  retain  the  power 
of  the  arm ;  neither  shall  he  stand,  nor  his 
arm :  but  she  shall  be  given  up  —  Antiochus 
after  the  death  of  Ptolemy  expelled  Berniee 
and  recalled  the  rejected  Laodice. — and  they 
that  brought  her,  and  he  that  begat  her,  and 
he  that  strengthened  her  in  these  times. 

7.  But  out  of  a  branch  of  her  roots  —  Ptol- 
emy II,  called  Evergetes  —  shall  one  stand 
up  in  his  estate,  which  shall  come  with  an 
army,  and  shall  enter  into  the  fortress  of  the 
king  of  the  north  and  shall  deal  against 
them  and  shall  prevail :  — Laodice  placed  her 
son  Seleucus  ii  on  the  throne.  Ptolemy  iii 
made  an  expedition  against  Syria,  slew  Laodice 
and  conquered  the  realm  from  Cilicia  to  the 
Tigris. 

182 


VISION  NO.  IV. 

8.  And  shall  also  carry  captives  into  Egypt, 
their  gods,  with  their  princes,  and  with  their 
precious  vessels  of  silver  and  of  gold  —  the 
booty  was  immense,  2500  idoLs,  4000  talents 
of  gold,  etc.  — and  he  shall  continue  more 
years  than  the  king  of  the  north. 

9.  So  the  king  of  the  south  shall  come 
into  his  kingdom  and  return  unto  his  own 
land. 

10.  But  his  sons  —  Seleucus  in  and  Anti- 
ochus  III,  the  Great  —  shall  be  stirred  up  and 
shall  assemble  a  multitude  of  great  forces  :  aud 
one  shall  certainly  come  and  overflow  and  pass 
through ;  then  shall  he  return  and  be  stirred 
up  even  to  his  fortress. 

11.  And  the  king  of  the  south  —  Ptolemy 
IV,  was  luxurious  and  indolent  —  shall  be 
moved  with  choler,  and  shall  come  forth  and 
fight  with  him,  even  with  the  king  of  the 
north :  and  he  shall  set  forth  a  great  muHi- 
tude :  but  the  multitude   shall   be  given   into 

183 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

his  hand.  —  Ptolemy  defeated  Antiochus  near 
Gaza  but  did  not  follow  up  the  victory. 

12.  And  when  he  hath  taken  away  the  mul- 
titude, his  heart  ^all  be  lifted  up ;  and  he 
shall  cast  down  many  ten  thousands :  but  he 
shall  not  be  strengthened  by  it. 

13.  For  the  king  of  the  north — Antiochus 
the  Great —  shall  return,  and  shall  set  forth  a 
multitude  greater  than  the  former,  and  shall 
certainly  come  after  certain  years  with  a  great 
army  and  with  much  riches. 

14.  And  in  those  times  there  shall  many 
stand  up  against  the  king  of  the  south ;  also 
the  robbers  of  thy  people  —  secret  enemies  of 
the  Jews  —  shall  exalt  themselves  to  establish 
the  vision  ;  but  they  shall  fail. 

15.  So  the  king  of  the  north  shall  come  and 
cast  up  a  mount,  and  take  the  most  fenced 
cities ;  and  the  arms  of  the  south  shall  not 
withstand,  neither  his  chosen  people,  neither 
shall  there  be  any  strength  to  withstand. 

184 


VISION  NO.  IV. 

16.  But  he  that  cometh  against  him  shall 
do  according  to  his  own  will,  —  the  wars  of 
Antiochus  the  Great  —  and  none  shall  stand 
before  him :  and  he  shall  stand  in  the  glorious 
land  —  PalestiiHj  —  which  by  his  hand  shall  be 
consumed. 

17.  He  shall  also  set  his  face  to  enter  with 
the  strength  of  his  whole  kingdom,  and  upright 
ones  with  him ;  thus  shall  he  do  :  and  he  shall 
give  him  the  daughter  of  women,  corrupting 
her  :  —  Using  marriage  for  political  gain  :  An- 
tiochus gave  his  daughter  Cleopatra  in  marriage 
to  Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  hoping  for  benefit,  but 
it  turned  out  otherwise  —  but  she  shall  not 
stand  on  his  side,  neither  be  for  him. 

18.  After  this  he  shall  turn  his  face  unto 
the  Isles,  and  shall  take  many  :  but  a  Prince 

—  a  Roman  General  —  for  his  own  behalf  shall 
cause  the  reproach  offered  by  him  to  cease; 
without   his  own  reproach — Antiochus   said: 

—  '■  Asia  did  not  concern  the  Komans  and  he 

185 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

was  not  subject  to  their  orders"  —  he  shall 
cause  it  to  turn  upon  him.  —  He  was  defeated 
by  the  Romans,  at  Magnesia. 

19.  Then  he  shall  turn  his  face  toward  the 
fort  of  his  own  land; — pillage  the  temples  — 
but  he  shall  stumble  and  fall  and  not  be  found. 
—  Antiochus  the  Great  was  slain. 

20.  Then  shall  stand  up  in  his  estate  a  raiser 
of  taxes  in  the  glory  of  the  kingdom  —  his  son 
Seleucus  Philopater,  who  sent  out  Heliodorus 
and  taxed  the  temples  as  well  as  the  people  — 
but  within  a  few  days  he  shall  be  destroyed, 
neither  in  anger  nor  in  battle.  —  Seleucus 
shortly  died  in  a  mysterious  manner. 

21.  And  in  his  estate  shall  stand  up  a  vile 
person  —  Antiochus  Epiphanes  —  to  whom  they 
shall  not  give  the  honor  of  the  kingdom :  but 
he  shall  come  in  peacefully,  and  obtain  the 
kingdom  by  flatteries. 

22.  And  with  the  arms  of  a  flood  shall  they 
be  overflown  from   before  him,  and   shall   be 

186 


VISION  NO.  IV. 

broken ;  yea,  also  the  prince  of  the  covenant. 
—  Onias  iii,  the  high  priest  was  put  to  death 
by  his  order. 

23.  And  after  the  league  made  with  him  he 
shall  work  deceitfully  :  for  he  shall  come  up, 
and  shall  become  strong  with  a  small  people. 

24.  He  shall  enter  peaceably  even  upon  the 
fattest  places  of  the  province ;  and  he  shall  do 
that  which  his  fathers  have  not  done,  nor  his 
father's  fathers ;  he  shall  scatter  among  them 
the  prey,  and  spoils,  and  riches  :  yea,  and  he 
shall  forecast  his  devices  against  the  strongholds 
even  for  a  time. 

25.  And  he  shall  stir  up  his  power  and  his 
courage  against  the  king  of  the  south  with  a 
great  army  ;  and  the  king  of  the  south —  Ptol- 
emy Philometer  —  shall  be  stirred  up  to  battle 
with  a  very  great  and  mighty  army  ;  but  he 
shall  not  stand  :  for  they  shall  forecast  devices 
against  him. 

26.  Yea,  they  that  feed  of  the  portion  of  his 

187 


DANIEL'S  PEOPHECIES. 

meat  shall   destroy   hiai,   and   his  army   shall 
overflow :  and  many  shall  fall  down  slain. 

27.  And  both  these  kings'  hearts  shall  be 
to  do  mischief,  and  they  shall  speak  lies  at 
one  table  —  a  pretended  friendship  —  but  it 
shall  not  prosper :  for  yet  the  end  shall  be  at 
the  time  appointed. 

28.  Then  shall  he  return  into  his  land  with 
great  riches ;  and  his  heart  shall  be  against  the 
holy  covenant  —  the  worship  of  Jehovah  —  and 
he  shall  do  exploits  and  return  to  his  own  land. 

29.  At  the  time  appointed  he  shall  return, 
and  come  toward  the  south ;  but  it  shall  not 
be  as  the  former,  or  as  the  latter.  - 

30.  For  the  ships  of  Chittim  _  the  fleet  of 
the  Romans  under  Laenas  —  shall  come  against 
him  :  therefore  he  shall  be  grieved,  and  return, 
and  have  indignation  against  the  holy  cove- 
nant :  so  shall  he  do ;  he  shall  even  return, 
and  have  intelligence  with  them  —  the  Samari- 
tans —  that  forsake  the  holy  covenant. 

188 


VISION  NO.  IV. 

31.  And  arms  shall  stand  on  his  part,  and 
they  shall  pollute  the  sanctuary  of  strength,  - 
the  Temple — and  shall  take  away  the  daily 
sacrifice,  and  they  shall  place  the  abomination 
that  maketh  desolate — Antiochus  Epiphanes 
established  idol-altars  in  every  town  and  village 
of  Palestine,  and  ordered  a  daily  sacrifice  of 
swine  on  the  altars. 

32.  And  such  as  do  wickedly  against  the 
covenant  shall  he  corrupt  by  flatteries :  but 
the  people  that  do  know  their  God  shall  be 
strong  and  do  exploits.  —  Mattathias  and  his 
5  sons,  the  "  Maccabees.'^ 

33.  And  they  that  understand  among  the 
people  shall  instruct  many  :  yet  they  shall  fall 
by  the  sword,  and  by  flame,  by  captivity,  and 
by  spoil,  many  days. 

34.  Now  when  they  shall  fall,  they  shall  be 
holpen  with  a  little  help  :  but  many  shall 
cleave   to   them   with  flatteries see   life   of 

Judas  Maccabeus. 

189 


DANIEL'S  PROPHECIES. 

35.  And  some  of  them  of  understanding 
shall  fall,  to  try  them,  and  to  purge,  and  to 
make  them  white,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end : 
because  it  is  yet  for  a  time  appointed. 

36.  And  the  king  shall  do  according  to  his 
will ;  and  he  shall  exalt  himself,  and  magnify 
himself  above  every  god,  and  shall  speak  mar- 
vellous things  against  the  God  of  Gods,  and 
shall  prosper  till  the  indignation  be  accom- 
plished :  for  that,  that  is  determined  shall  be 
done. 

37.  Neither  shall  he  regard  the  god  of  his 
fathers,  nor  the  desire  of  women,  —  in  other 
words,  the  idol  Astarte,  "  the  queen  of  heaven  " 
—  nor  regard  any  god :  for  he  shall  magnify 
himself  above  all. 

38.  But  in  his  estate  shall  he  honor  the  God 
of  forces  :— a  ii'od  of  castles  or  fortresses  — 
and  a  god  whom  his  fathers  knew  not  shall  he 
honor  with  gold,  and  silver,  and  with  precious 
stones,  and  pleasant  things. 

190 


VISION  NO.  IV. 

39.  Thus  shall  he  do  in  the  most  strongholds 
with  a  strange  god,  whom  he  shall  acknowledge 
and  increase  with  glory :  and  he  shall  cause 
them  to  rule  over  many,  and  shall  divide  the 
land  for  gain. 

40.  And  at  the  time  of  the  end  shall  the 
king  of  the  south  push  at  him  :  and  the  king 
of  the  north  shall  come  against  him  like  a 
whirlwind,  with  chariots  and  with  horsemen, 
and  Avith  many  ships ;  and  he  shall  enter  into 
the  countries,  and  shall  overflow  and  pass 
over. 

41.  He  shall  enter  also  into  the  glorious 
land  —  Palestine — and  many  countries  shall 
be  overthrown :  but  these  shall  escape  out  of 
his  hand,  even  Edom,  and  Moab,  and  the  chief 
of  the  children  of  Ammon  —  Antiochus  passed 
them  by.  When,  however,  they  tried  to  take 
advantage  of  Judas  Maccabeus,  he  defeated 
them. 

42.  He  shall  stretch  forth  his  hand  also  upon 

191 


DANIEL'S  PKOPHECIES. 

the  countries  :  and  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  not 
escape. 

43.  But  he  shall  have  power  over  the  treas- 
ures of  gold  and  of  silver,  and  over  all  the 
precious  things  of  Egypt :  and  the  Libyans 
and  the  Ethiopians  shall  be  at  his  steps. 

44.  But  tidings  out  of  the  east  and  out  of 
the  north  shall  trouble  him  :  —  rumors  of  re- 
bellion and  lack  of  funds  made  him  resolve 
to  go  at  once  to  Persia,  restore  order  and  col- 
lect taxes.  — therefore  he  shall  go  forth  with 
great  fury  —  Threatened  on  his  return  to 
exterminate  the  Jews  — to  destroy,  and  utterly 
to  make  away  many. 

45.  And  he  shall  plant  the  tabernacles  of  his 
palace  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy 
mountain  — lie  left  a  garrison  in  the  Citadel 
adjoining  the  Temple — yet  he  shall  come  to 
his  end^^— B.  c.  164 — and  none  shall  help 
him. 


J92 


VISION  NO.  IV. 

This  xith  chapter  of  Daniel,  gives  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  the  period  covered  by  2300  days, 
which  period  extended  from  October  14th 
B.C.  450  to  May  4th  b.  c.  141. 

This  series  of  predictions,  entered  so  minutely 
into  the  details  of  history,  that  the  Jews  were 
able  to  give  the  prophetic  time  of  day,  at  any 
moment  between  B.C.  450  and  141.  DaniePs 
next  period  of  1290  days,  covered  the  re- 
maining distance  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah 
■—B.C.  141  to  A.D.  33. 


193 


REFERENCES. 


The  writings  of  Josephus  are  a  mine  of  wealth  to  the 
student  of  Jewish  history.  When  at  Kome  the  Emperor 
made  him  custodian  of  the  Sacred  Books  ;  he  had  the  run  of 
theMetropolitan  libraries  and  access  to  the  official  records, 
which,  he  says,  were  ''engraved  upon  pillars  of  brass." 
With  all  this  data  at  command,  with  an  indefatigable  in- 
dustry, a  strict  probity,  and  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer,  he 
made  the  world  richer  by  his  labors.  Gathering  data  for 
the  life  of  Nebuchadnezzar  from  many  Indian,  Persian, 
Phoenician,  and  Chaldaic  sources,  we  cannot  wonder  at  an 
occasional  conflict  of  figures.  Note,  for  instance,  his 
Antiquities  states  that  the  successors  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
Evil  Merodach  and  his  son,  reigned  respectively  18  and 
40  years,  a  total  of  58  years  ;  while  his  Against  Apion, 
written  quarter  of  a  century  later  states  that  the  reigns  in 
question  covered  only  2  years  and  4  years.  He  also  says 
that  Solomon  reigned  80  years  instead  of  40.  These 
errors  of  course  have  marred  many  of  his  calculations. 
His  olympiads  are  very  misleading,  simply  because  he 
rarely  stated  the  year  and  never  once  mentioned  whether 
the  ''Anno  Urbis"  base  of  his  calculations  belonged 
195 


KEFERENCES. 

to  the  system  of  Pictor,  of  Polybius,  of  Cato,  of  Flaccus 
or  of  Varro.  Consequently  the  value  of  his  olympiads 
varies  from  1  to  6  points ;  but  his  years  of  the  Seleu- 
cidae  are  correct  because  they  all  start  from  the  year 
B.  c.  312.  His  list  of  reigns  and  priestly  offices  are 
of  immense  value  in  checking  up  his  other  dates. 

Josephus  was  so  fond  of  placing  one  parenthesis  within 
another,  that  his  true  meaning  should  always  be  sought 
with  care.  In  alluding  to  a  curious  circumstance  in  the 
life  of  Matthias  which  happened  on  the  fast  of  Esther, 
March  13th  b.  c.  4,  he  says  : — "that  night  there  was  an 
eclipse  of  the  Moon"  [xvii.  6,  4].  Many  learned  writers 
have  wasted  time  in  determining  the  above  date,  thinking 
it  would  settle  the  question  as  to  when  Herod  died.  It 
only  fixed  the  day  when  Joseph  held  the  office  of  High 
Priest  for  twenty-four  hours.  This  was  the  shortest 
tenure  of  office  on  record,  but  had  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  the  time  of  Herod's  death. 

Most  of  the  difficulties  one  encounters  in  a  study  of 
Josephus  fade  away  before  a  comparison  of  the  context 
and  an  increased  familiarity  with  his  style  as  a  writer. 

1.  Josephus  xiv.  15,  4  and  14— i.  17,  6,  8— i.  16,  2. 

2.  Josephus  xiv.  9,  2 — xiv.  8,  5— i.  33,  1. 

3.  Josephus  XX.  10,  1 — xv.  6,  4. 

4.  I  Maccabees  xiii.  41,  42 — Jos.  xiii.  0,  4,  5,  6 — 

Jos.  XX.  10,  1. 

196 


REFERENCES. 

5.  Josephus  xiv.  12,  2 — See  Plutarch's  life  of  Antony. 

6.  Josephus  xiv.  13,  1 — i.  12,  5. 

7.  Josephus  xiv.  13,  3— i.  13,  1— xiv.  14,  4— i.  14,  4. 

8.  Josephus  XV.  5,  2 — i.  19,  3. 

9.  Josephus  XX.  10,  1. 

10.  Josephus  xvii.  8,  1 — i.  33,  8. 

11.  Josephus  xvii.  7,  1 — i.  33,  7. 

12.  Josephus  xvii.  6,  4--xviii.  1,  1 — ii.  1,  2. 

13.  Josephus  xviii.  1,  6 — xx.  5,  2 — ii.  8,  1 — ii.  17,  8. 

14.  Josephus  xvii.  13,  2. 

15.  Luke  iii.  1,  2  and  23. 

16.  Introduction  to  Old  Testament,  by  Carpzovius. 

17.  Josephus  10,  11,  7. 

18.  Luke  24,  44. 

19.  Josephus  against  Apion  i.  8. 

20.  Ezra,  4,  7. 

21.  Josephus  X.  chapters  10  and  11. — xi.  3,  1. 

It  is  very  certain  that  the  Prophet  Daniel  was  not 
the  author  of  the  additions  entitled,  —  Susanna 
and  the  Elders  ;  Song  of  the  three  Hebrew  chil- 
dren ;  Bel  and  the  Dragon.  They  are  not  found 
in  the  Hebrew  Bible  and  have  no  part  in  the 
Canon  of  Scripture. 

22.  Daniel  1,  21. 

23.  Daniel  6,  28. 

197 


REFERENCES. 

24.     First  five  years  of  Jehoiakim's  reign :  — 
For  1st  year,  see  Jeremiah  26,  1,  2  and  3. 
*'  2d      ''       "  "        27,  1  and  6. 

"  3d      "       "  "        35,  1    "  11. 

"  3d  ''  "  Daniel  1,  1  —2  Kings  24,  1,  2. 
"  4th  "  "■  Jeremiah  25,  1  —  36,  1—46,  2. 
"   5th    "       "  "        36,  9  and  22. 


24.     II.  Kings  24,  1  and  2  — II.  Chronicles  36,  8  — 
Jeremiah  25,  1  —  Chapters  xxvi.  and  xxvii.  — 
Daniel  1,  1  —  Josephus  x.  11,  1  and  x.  6,  1. 
Josephus'  authorities   regarding   Nebuchadnezzar 
were :  — 

Megasthenes,  IV.  Book  of  India. 
Diodes,  II.      "     ''  Persia. 

Philostrates,  India  and  Phoenicia. 
Berosus,  III.  Book  of  Chaldaic  History. 
The  year  b.  c.  608  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
reign  of  Jehoiakim  in  Jerusalem.  He  received 
the  appointment  from  Pharaoh-Nechoh,  king  of 
Egypt ;  and  became  the  object  of  attack  by  sur- 
rounding nations.  The  eleven  years  of  his  reign 
were  taken  up,  in  contest  with  the  Chaldeans, 
the  Syrians,  the  Moabites  and  the  children  of 
Ammon. 

198 


KEFERENCES. 

25.     Ezra  1,  11  —  2  Kings  24,  14. 

Nebuchadnezzar's  sieges  of  Jerusalem. 
1st  siege  b.  c.  606  Royal  captives. 
2d      "        "    598       3,023     " 
3d      ''        "    597     10,000     '* 
4th    *'        "    588-6      832     " 
5th    ''        ''    583  745     " 


B.  c.  597  usually  called  1st  year  of  the  Captivity. 
Civil  captivity  lasted  70  years,  b.  c.  606  to  536. 
Religious''  "      70      "     b.  c.  585  to  515. 

26.  The  Behistun  inscription  of  Darius. 

27.  Isaiah  44,  28  —Jeremiah  25,  12. 
Herodotus  i.  191. 

28.  Josephus  11,  6,  1. 

29.  Herodotus  vii.  1,  4. 

30.  Josephus  xi.  6,  1. 

Diodorus  Siculus  xi.  1,  2,  4,  12,  and  18  —  xii.  6. 
Thucydides  i.  137— iv.  50— v.  25— Ezra  vi.  14. 

31.  Ezra  7,  7  and  8,  also  11  to  26. 

32.  Nehemiah  i.  3— ii.  13— Jer   17,  27—16,  18. 

33.  Nehemiah  i.  2. 

34.  Nehemiah  ii.  1  and  6 — v.  14  and  vi.  15. 

35.  Nehemiah  xiii.  6. 

36.  Daniel  viii.  13. 

37.  Nehemiah  ix.  38. 

199 


REFERENCES. 

38.  Daniel  ix.  25— Zechariah  i.  7  and  12. 

39.  Jeremiah  xxv.  1,  2,  3. 

40.  Ezekiel  xl.  1. 

41.  Jer.25,  1—52,  28— II.  Kin.  24,  12— Jer.32,  1—52,  12 

42.  Jeremiah  xxv.  1 — Daniel  i.  1. 

43.  Ezekiel  xx.  1    3. 

44.  Jeremiah  xvi.  18— xvii.  27 — Nehemiah  xiii.  18 — -» 

45.  Nehemiah  viii.  17— ix.  38.  Isaiah  xl.  2.  i 

46.  Zechariah  i.  11. 

47.  Daniel  ix.  24— Haggai  ii.  19  and  23. 

48.  Deuteronomy  28, 1— II.  Chronicles  36,  15,  and  16. 

49.  Daniel  9,  27. 

50.  Daniel  7,  14. 

51.  Matthew  24,  36. 

52.  Eutropius,  Book  I. 

53.  Josephus  12,  7,  6. 

Ezekiel  prophesied  as  follows  concerning  the  149th 

year    of    the    Seleucidae,    the    year    in   which 

Antiochus  Epiphanes  died  :  — 

Idols  destroyed  by  Josiah,  .         .         .     b.  c.  624 

* '  Now  in  the  30th  year  "  ( Ezek.  1,1).  30 

5th  year  of  the  Captivity  (    "      1,2).     b.  c.  594 
Years  for  House  of  Israel  (    "     4,5).  390 

Egyptian  rule  ended  (Polybius  15, 20)  .     b.  c.  204 
Years  for  House  of  Judah  (Ezek.  4,  6)  40 

Syrian  rule  ended  (1  Mace.  6,  16)       .     b.  r.  ItU 
200 


REFERENCES. 

54.  1  Maccabees  xiii.  36  to  52. 

55.  1  Maccabees  xiv.  27. 

56.  Daniel  8,  14— Daniel  12,  11,  12. 

57.  Joseph  us  12,  5,  4. 

58.  Josephus  12,  7,  G. 

59.  Genesis  1,  5. 

60.  Daniel  8,  26. 

61.  Deuteronomy  16,  9  to  16 — Acts  2,  1. 

62.  Leviticus  25,  8. 

63.  Although  the  Christian  and  the  Jewish  years  differ 

both  in  respect  to  the  total  number  of  their  days 
and  the  mobility  of  New- Year  day,  still  every  solar 
year  has  only  one  New-Year  and  one  Passover 
day. 

New-Year  day  of  the  Christian  year  is  absolutely 
fixed  and  the  months  and  days  follow  in  settled 
order. 

The  Jewish  New- Year  on  the  contrary  is  movable 
and  the  months  and  days  variable.  Its  motion  is 
governed  by  phases  of  the  moon  and  the  require- 
ments of  the  Mosaic  law,  which  either  advance  or 
retard  it  a  certain  number  of  days  in  each  year. 
Over  a  series  of  years  and  within  the  limits  of  a 
lunar  month,  the  New-Year  day  travels  back  and 
forth  like  the  pendulum  of  a  clock.     Each  move- 

201 


REFERENCES. 

ment  of  course  carries  in  its  train  all  the  months 
and  days  appropriate  to  its  own  year.  Take  for 
example,  the  series  b.  c.  520  to  450. 

By  Jewish  computation  the  "First  day  8th  month" 
fell  on  October  2d  in  b.  c.  450,  and  on  October 
25th  in  b.  c  520. 

The  extreme  dates  October  2d  and  October  25th 
represent  the  arbitrary  swing  given  to  the  pendu- 
lum, it  follows  that  October  14th  is  the  mean 
point  or  date  common  to  this  series  of  70  years. 

64.  Daniel  12,  10— Acts  ii.  chapter -Joel  ii.  28  to  32. 

65.  Leviticus  23,  5,  6 — Deuteronomy  16,  6. 

Every  Jewish  year  covers  one  of  the  following  sets 
of  days:— 853— 354— 355— 383-384— 385.  In 
the  4th  Century  of  our  Era,  Rabbi  Hillel  II. 
devised  a  Calendar  to  forecast  the  new  moon, 
and  since  his  day  the  Jews  have  been  able 
to  name  in  advance  proper  dates  for  all  tlieir 
religious  ceremonies.  But  prior  to  his  discovery 
special  officers  were  appointed  to  watch  and  an- 
nounce the  arrival  of  the  new  moon. 

66.  Leviticus,  23,  15,  16. 

67.  Daniel  12,  12— Genesis  49,  10.— Acts  10,  44,  45. 

68.  Ezekiel  14,  14  to  20. 

202 


INDEX 


ACHAEMENES,  63 

Achmetha,  82 
Ahasuerus,  63,  70 
Ahaz,  126 

Akkad,  48,  49,  56,  57,  58 
Alexander  the   Great,  146, 

147,  153 
Alexandra,  21,  22 
Annalistic  Tablet  of  Cyrus, 

48,  55 
Antigonus,  22,  24 
Antiochus    Epiphanes,    99, 

148,  200 
Antony,  22 
Anzan,  55,  145 
Apion,  195 
Apocrypha,  32 
Apostle  John,  27 
Apostle  Peter,  124 
Aramaic,  34 
Ararat,  56 
Archelaus,  26 
Ariaramnes,  63 
Aristldes,  69 
Arsames,  63,  64 
Artaxerxes,  31,  44,  63,  69, 

70,71 
Artaxerxes       Longimanus, 

70,  71,  72 
Asia,  22 
Asmoneans,  97 


Atossa,  daughter  of  Cyrus, 

65 
Augustan  age,  29,  42 
Augustus  Cesar,  24,  25,  28, 

140 

Babylon,  42,   47,    48,    49, 

50,  56,  57,  71,  81,  82,  97 
Babylonian   Monarchs,    36, 

44 
Banquet  Hall,  50 
Battle  of  Actium,    23,    28, 

134 
Battle  of  Marathon,  65,  69, 

131,  146 
Battle  of  Philippi,  22 
Battle  of  Salamis,  69,  146 
Behistun     inscription,    61, 

64.     See  Frontispiece. 
Behistun  range,  61 
Belshazzar,  35,  36,  44,  47, 

51,  56,  57 
Benjamin,  81 
Book  of  Esther,  70 

Calendar  of  the  Jews,  202 
Cambyses,    36,  43,    44,   50, 

58,  63,  81 
Captivity,  75,  77,  119,  199 
Censoriu«^,  98 
Chaldean  Empire,  45 


203 


INDEX. 


Chaldeans,  34 

Chapters,     how     arranged, 

35 
Christian  Era,  15  to  29 
Christmas  Day,  15,  20,  25 
Cicero,  98 
Cleansed  the  Fortress,  101, 

115,  150 
Comments  of  Authors,  16 
Complete  sufficiency,  91 
Cornelius,  112 
Covenant,  71,  72,  84,  90 
Ctesias,  the  historian,  65 
Cunaxa,  136,  177 
Cy renins,  26 
Cyrus,  35,  36,   43,   44,    49, 

50,  65,  70,  81,  159 
Cyrus  II,  63 
Cyrus,  son  of  Xerxes,  70 

Daniel,  31-37,  58,  62,  64, 

77,    89,    90,    91,   93,    97, 

108,  123,  124,  127 
Daniel's    inspiration,     123- 

127 
Darius,  35,  36,  43,  44,  50, 

61-66,  82 
Days,  107-113 
Death  of  Belshazzar,  50 
Death  of  Herod,  21-25 
Demetrius     and     Tryphon, 

101 
Den  of  lions,  37 
Dial  of  Ahaz,  126 
Dinter,  old  Babylon,  48 
Diodorus,  66,  69 
Double  recompense,  82 


ECBATANA,  70 

P^clipse  of  the  Moon,  196 
Egypt,  43 
Elamites,  55,  145 
p:nd  of  the  Days,  89-92 
Enrollment  [b.  c.  1],  25 
Era  of  fSeleucidte,  103 
Euphrates,  49 
Eutropius,  98 
Evening-mornings,     108, 

110 
Evil  Merodach,  44,  78,  195 
Ezekiel,  75,  78 
Ezra,  34,  70,  82 

Fair  warning,  91 

Feast  of  Lights,  100,  103 

Feast    of    Pentecost,     108, 

111 
Feast  of  Weeks,  108 
Forbearance,  85,  120 
Fortress  adjoining  Temple, 

100,  101  _ 
Forty  and  six  years,  27 

Gentiles,    112,    115,    165, 

176 
Gobryas,  56 
Gold  and  silver  vessels,  43, 

57 
Gomates,  36,  44,  58 
Great    and     Notable     Dav, 

111,  165 
Greeks,  98 

IIagiographa,  33 
Hebrew,  34 


>04 


INDEX. 


Hellespont,  69 

Herod  the  Great,  21  to  25 

Herodotus,  66 

Hezekiah,  126 

High  priest,  24  hours,  196 

High  priest  Joazar,  25,  26 

Holy    Spirit    to    Gentiles, 

112,  113 
Holy   Spirit   to    the   Jews, 

111,  112 
Hyrcanus,  21,  22 
Hystaspes,  62,  63,  64 

Indications,  24 
Inspiration   of  Daniel,   33, 
123-127 

Jeremiah,  75,  78 
Jerusalem,    21,    22,  23,  41, 

57,    81,   83,  90,  91,   113, 

123,  126 
Jewish  year,  202 
Job,  123 

John  the  Baptist,  25,  26 
Josephus,    21,    23,    31,    33, 

35,  195 
Josephus'  parentheses,  196 
Judah,  81 

Judas  Maccabeus,  97,  100 
Judas  of  Galilee,  25 
Judgments,  85 

Key,  18,  19,  115,  120 
Kimon,  84 

King  Edward  VII,  42 
King  Saul,  119 
Knife,  25 


LiVY,  141 

Locking  dates,  75-78 

Luke,  19,  111 

Macedonian  dynasty,  97 

Manda,  55 

Manetho,  65 

Megabyzus,  71 

Messiah's  kingdom,  142, 157 

Ministry  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist, 26 

Mosaic  custom,  108,  117 

Moses,  90,  92,  118 

Moses,  Prophet's,  and 
Psalms,  32 

Mycale,  69 

Nabonadios,     44,     47-50, 

55,  56 
Nadintabel,  50,  51 
National  day,  97-104 
Nebuchadnezzar,     34,     41- 

44,  50,  51,  57,  76,  77, 118, 

195 
Nehemiah,  71,  72,  83 
Nergal-sarra-utsur,  44,  47 
New  Moon,  202 
New    Testament,    19,    93, 

124,  166 
New  Year,  201,  202 
Noah,  123 

Olympiad  errors,  195 
Olympiads,  97,  98 
Olympic  games,  97,  98 
Onias  HI,  187 
Order  of  history,  36 


205 


INDEX. 


Palisades  on  Hudson,  61 

Passover,  19,  25 

Passover  [a.  d.  1],  25 

Passover  [a.  d.  33],  111 

Pausanias,  69 

Peace,  84 

Pentecost  [a.  d.    33],   111, 

115 
Persia,  55,  56,  58 
Persian  chronology,  Q6 
Persian  Monarchs,  36 
Persians,  64 
Petronius,  113 
Pilate  dismissed,  113 
Plataea,  69 
Pliny,  98 
Plutarch,  6Q 
Porphery,  33 
Proof,  104 
Prophecy,  34 
Prophetic  Days,  102,  107 
Prophetic  ratio,  109 
Prophetic    Weeks,    117    to 

1:^0 
Prophets  31,  90 
Ptolemy,  66,  77,  78 

Rabbi  Hillel  II,  202 
Revelation,  83 
Romans,  97,  133 
Rome,  42,  97,  134 
Royalty,  50 

Sabbath,  117,  119 
Sacrifice  of  swine,  99 
Sanctuary     cleansed,      100, 
101 


Saviour's  Ministry,  25 

Scriptures,  32,  167 

Season,  119,  120,  135 

Seleucida?,  97,  103 

Seventy  Weeks,  83,  85,  120, 
163,  175 

Shortened  Days,  127,  141 

Sidereal  year,  109,  115 

Simon  Maccabeus,  22,  97, 
131,132 

Sippora,  56 

Starting-points  of  Proph- 
ecy, 81  to  84 

Sublime  faith,  37 

Suetonis,  140 

Syrian  Winters,  20 

Tablet    on    Mount    Sion, 

102 
Tablets,  47,  56 
Talmud,  31 

Taxation,  [a.  d.  7],  26 
Teispes,  63 
Temple  of  Jerusalem,    43 

57 
Temple  of  Zerubbabel,  81 
Temple  pollution,  100,  101 
Temple  worship,  83 
The  Commandment,  70,  83, 

115 
Tue  Messl\h,  91,  99 
The  New  Covenant,  72,  84 
Thucydides,  6Q,  132,  199 
Tiberius  Cesar,  26 
Time  of  the  End,  89-93 
Time— Times,  85,  119,  120, 

135,  141,  163 


206 


INDEX. 


Titus  took   Jerusalem,   92, 

163 
Triumvirate,  134,  141 
Truthfulness  of  Darius,  61 
Twelve  years  old,  19 

Universal     Gospel,    112, 

176 
Usurped  the  throne,  58 


Week,  16,  91,  117-120 
Winter,  20 
World,  92,  117 
Worship,  72,  90 


Xerxes,  44,  63,  66,  67 


Vessels  of  the  Temple,  81  |  Zechariah,  110 
Vision  of  4  winds,  131  I  Zerubbabel,  82,  167,  175 


207 


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